Ford will Assemble its Ranger pickup in Nigeria, starting in October.

US vehicle manufacturer Ford will assemble its Ranger pickup in Nigeria, starting in October. The plant will be Ford’s first African production location outside South Africa,

says Ford Motor Company Sub-Saharan Africa president and CEO Jeff Nemeth.

Ford has partnered with Ford dealer group Coscharis Motors on the assembly project. Nemeth does not want to disclose the shareholding or dollar-value of the venture.

Ranger assembly will begin in Ikeja, in the Lagos State, about 750 km south-west of the Nigerian capital Abuja. The Ikeja plant will create around 180 jobs directly and indirectly, and will have the capacity to assemble up to 5 000 units a year.

Vehicles produced at the plant are destined for sale in Nigeria only. Ford will assemble the Ranger at a semi-knockdown (SKD) level, using body parts and components imported from South Africa.

Ford produces the Ranger in Pretoria, South Africa, for export to 148 countries, while the company also manufactured engines at a Port Elizabeth facility.

The US auto maker in August produced its 250 000th Ranger at its Pretoria operation.

“Nigeria is a priority market for us in sub-Saharan Africa and today’s announcement will allow us to better serve our customers, both from a retail point of view, and in terms of vehicle and parts availability,” notes Nemeth.

Ford’s decision on local assembly in Nigeria follows that of Japanese auto maker, Nissan, which set up a similar SKD operation two years ago. Both companies’ actions have been prompted by a new duty regime that strongly favoured vehicle assembly in Nigeria over vehicle imports.

The Nissan Nigerian facility is also, in part, supplied from its South African operation. A number of Chinese companies also assembles pickups in Nigeria. Ford in 2014 sold around 4 000 new vehicles in Nigeria, with the Ranger making up around 50% to 60% of this number, says Nemeth.

He says the South African automotive industry could look at the Nigeria announcement as a glass-half-empty, in that the Ranger used to be exported from South Africa to Nigeria, or as a glass-half-full, with the South African plant at full capacity, and with Ford and its South African suppliers able to grow their footprint in Africa.

Nemeth is also positive that new Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, elected this year, will continue with the auto policy as impemented by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.