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Holland Car Plc unveiled its new models under a
different manufacturer at the Lalibela Hall of
Sheraton Hotel on September 7, 2009, in front of a
gathering of government officials, invited guests
and journalists.
The three brands, Abay Executive, Awash Executive
and Tekeze, were received with a lot of buzz by the
guests the company invited. The assembly of these
vehicles, named after famous Ethiopian rivers, will
commence in mid November 2009, according to Tadesse
Tessema (Eng.), general manager of the company. He
said that the new models marked a major difference
from the old Abay model not just in design but also
in quality.
The new models are designed by Pininfarina, an
Italian company, leading the fashion trend of
automobile models. This industrial design company
specializes in drawing and engineering of
automobile. The new cars are also equipped with the
newest BOSCH’s 8.1 Active ABS wheel Speed Sensor.
Abay Executive would sell for 189,500 Br; Tekeze
goes for almost the same price at 189,000Br. Awash
executive is the most expensive at 279,000 Br,
Ermias Wolde Silasie sales and marketing manager at
Holland Car told Fortune.
The company has a waiting list of 65 orders for the
new models; some of these orders were initially for
original versions, which diverted to new models as
they were made available. The parts of the new
models will be imported from Anhui Jianghuai
Automobile Co., Ltd (JAC) based in Shanghai, China.
Foreign exchange problem was the main reason they
were not able to deliver orders on time Taddesse
said.
The company is now waiting for its turn to get to
open letter of credit from Commercial Bank of
Ethiopia, Abyssinia and United Banks.
When the assembly plant started operation, it
produced one car a day, gradually reaching seven to
eight cars per day. Tadesse hopes that the company
will soon be assembling 10 cars per day.
“I feel happy when I see Holland car dominating the
city”, said Tadesse Haile, state minister of Trade
and Industry. “I look forward to seeing the
production capacity of Holland Car improved,” he
added.
Holland Car Plc was established in 2005 by Tadesse
Tessema (Eng.) and Trento BV Engineering, a Dutch
company, with a capital of 11 million Br. The
company lies on 20,000sqm land in Mojo Town, 70Km to
the South of Addis Abeba in Oromia Regional State.
Currently Holland Car Plc has 200 permanent
employees; it brings in some additional labour when
the need arises.It has two show rooms at Getu
Commercial Center and TK International Building,
both on Africa Avenue.
His company was one of the 25 most successful
business ventures in Ethiopia in 2008, and it became
one of the five finalists for Africa’s Small, Medium
and Micro Enterprises Award (SMMEA) in 2009 Tadesse
said.
In 2008, Holland Car was also second among 70 Dutch
overseas companies rated by the Netherlands
Government. |
