ARE you curious to see what is happening with Higer Bus Zambia Limited? Or curious to see how a vehicle is assembled? Then this is for you.
The Chinese bus manufacturing giant - Higer Bus - will open a new state-of-the art showroom, workshop, sales office and spare parts centre in Lusaka next month.
The new facilities on Kafue Road will be followed by a new assembly plant for pickup vehicles later before the end of the year, making Higer the first automotive assembler for vehicles specifically tailored for the Zambian terrain.
Wu Ming, Higer Bus Zambia Limited general manager, says the company was making significant changes in order to become a competitive player in automotive niche markets.
"We have invested almost US$5 million to buy land and build the new facilities. We have built a new showroom, sales office, workshop and spare parts centre," he says.
The company''s vision is bold.
"We are not ending at these new facilities. We want to start assembling the Higer pickup in Zambia. To that end, we will be putting up a new assembly plant by the end of this year," he says.
The new plant is expected to assemble 20 units per day.
Stephen Sun, sales manager for the Southern African market, says the plan is to make Zambia a hub for the sub-Saharan market.
"This assembly plant is important for Zambia. It will reduce the cost of Higer pickup as no import duty will be paid on (it) and it will also create jobs in the motor vehicle value chain. But most importantly, Zambia will become a hub for these vehicles," he says.
Just give a clear hint on models we can expect from Higer in the showroom to open in Lusaka is the 63-seater H94-KLQ6145B model powered by a Scania model engine. Others are the 19-seater bus models, the H5A light duty bus and the 4 by 2 Higer pickup which proved great in the Dakar car rally.
So for the foreseeable future, Higer Bus still promises big for Zambia, especially with the new pickup assembly plant coming.
It''s indisputable the company has over the years established and enjoyed favourable and sustainable ties with Zambia.
These ties spring from 2008 when the company was first established in the country and were cemented during Zambia''s quest for economic and social development.
As a unit of Higer Bus China, the firm has been committed to supplying high quality buses to Zambia''s transportation market as well as the neighbouring markets.
Through its diligent marketing and excellent after-sales service, Higer Zambia has supplied hundreds of buses to the Zambian market and its neighbours'' markets like Zimbabwe, Botswana, DRC and Malawi.
Up to now, the firms has sold more than 500 units buses in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Malawi.
Most of the leading transporters in these countries chose and trust Higer after operating the bus for a period of time. It has clients like Mazhandu Family Bus services in Zambia, Tenda Bus in Zimbabwe, and AXA coaches in Malawi, all who speak highly of Higer buses.
Josiah Majuru, the president of the Public and Private Drivers Association, says Higer buses are durable.
"You can''t go wrong. From the time the association entered into a partnership with Higer to supply some buses, we have sampled them and proven this," he adds.
The association''s members are to acquire buses, through a loan facility guaranteed by the government, from Higer bus.
About 1,000 buses are to be supplied under this government-driven initiative.
With this and many more achievements scored so far, Higer has both the Chinese and Zambian government to thank as well as its customers who have significantly contributed to its growth.