The General Manager of Kantanka Automobile, Francis Kojo Kujoji, has confirmed that there is no import duty required to be paid on any vehicle purchased from Kantanka Automobile Company; and as part of an incentive packages for all their clients, the company assists customers to register their vehicles with the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) of Ghana free without charge.

Speaking on Eye on Port, the General Manager of Kantanka Automobile revealed that the company now has a range of vehicle at its disposal which are selling at various showrooms across the country – including SUVs and pick-ups in 2 categories, the luxury and the ordinary, as well as a mini-SUV called the K71. Additionally, the general Manager revealed that some 150 sedan vehicles and a mini-sedan model of car will soon be outdoored onto the Ghanaian market.

Francis Kojo Kujoji explained that from the initial stages, Kantanka out of a deliberate marketing strategy decided to produce for the high-end market and institutions such as the Military and top government officials in order to get high-profile endorsement for their vehicles.

“You know Ghanaians; if you start with something small, they will say you can’t go higher. And also, we decided to go for a kind of endorsement approach in marketing.”

He said they believe that this made it less difficult when they started scaling down the grade of cars for the mass market, which allowed people to recognise Kantanka and associate them with high-profile personalities; and from there, decided to scale-down their model of cars.

The General Manager of Kantanka Automobile hinted that although Kantanka cars have compatible model parts in the market, they have their own spare-parts which they have decided to franchise to other dealers to make them accessible everywhere since they had in the past monopolised sales of their spare-parts. He said this is an effort to grow their supply chain at every corner of the country and ensure a total capture of the Ghanaian market, even as the country joins the rest of the continent to commence implementing the continental free trade area soon.

“The parts of our vehicles are compatible with some of the models we already have in the markets; but then, we still have some parts available for our own brand of vehicles. We had initially monopolised the parts, but now what’s going to happen is that we will give franchises to parts dealers in Abosey-Okai and, Suame Magazine etc.”

Mr. Francis Kujoji revealed that it has been their hope to reduce the cost of their cars, but the vehicle components imported from Asia are quite expensive although the recent Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Programme Policy has ensured a significant reduction in import duty to about 25%. “We want to do cars and come out with models that will cost like 10,000, 12,000, and 9,000 Ghana cedis – but we cannot because the components are expensive. If you put even the batteries and tyres together, it’s over 7,000 cedis,” he bemoaned.

The General Manager of Kantanka Automobile, Francis Kujoji, disclosed that the company is looking to import about 300 forty-foot containers of vehicle components every year, which will be equivalent to 600 TEUs of imports annually – especially as they are looking to grow production significantly following the effectiveness of the new Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Programme Policy. “We are estimating over 300 forty-foot containers per year,” the General Manager hinted.

On the company’s preparedness to sell beyond the Ghanaian Market, he revealed that they have already exported to Norway and Liberia and are getting remarkable demands from the Sub-regional and regional Markets. “Our first export was to Liberia and to the then President of Liberia, Sirleaf Johnson” Mr. Kujoji revealed.