The Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited (ANAMMCO) says its production capacity has reduced from 1,000 cars to less than 250 cars a year. Chief Godwin Okeke, Chairman, ANAMMCO’s Board of Directors, disclosed this when the Minister of State for Trade and Investments, Dr Samuel Ortom, made a familiarisation tour to the company.
He said the company had an installed capacity of producing annually 108,000 cars, 56,000 commercial vehicles, 10,000 tractors, 1,000,000 motorcycles and 1,000,000 bicycles.
Okeke told the minister that the company’s vehicle manufacturing capacity is below 10 per cent and about 40 per cent in motorcycle, bicycle and components parts manufacturing.
“We reached this level, because of some challenges. These include lack of encouragement from the government, lack of patronage and high costs of doing business in the country.
There is also the unfavourable marginal tariff differential between completely knocked down components (CKD) and Fully Built Units (FUB),’’ he said. The board chairman said it was the plan of the company to increase the local content from 15 per cent at commencement of production in 1981 to 100 per cent by 1991.
He also pointed at the withdrawal of the Daimler Mercedes franchise in January 2010 as a major contributor to ANAMMCO’s near collapse.
Okeke said the automobile industries in the country had suffered setbacks and needed an urgent intervention.
