Since its establishment, the plant had been producing six different models of KIA brand in the country, with plans to add four.

They are Cerato, K5, Sonet, Seltos, Sportage and Sorento.

RANA Motors, the sole distributors of KIA vehicles in the country, said the brands were doing well in the market. 

Local

“I can assure you that RANA Motors is selling all the models manufactured locally without any challenges since production started because the vehicles have the same standard as those imported or the ones manufactured in all the KIA assembly plants across the world,” the Chief Operating Officer of the company, Kassem Odaymat, said in an interview with the media at the launch of the new KIA Carens in Accra last Tuesday.

The new Carens, which is the latest addition of the KIA stock in the country, was designed to offer an exceptional family experience and give customers more comfort.

The seven-seater vehicle is designed with a bold attitude and space-age sophistication with a 1.5 engine capacity and remote-controlled engine feature.

The officer added that the vehicle offered varied options to its users, including affordability, convenience and safety.

“Be it the spacious seating or the remarkably large boot space, the KIA Carens gives you the space you will ever need for your family adventures.

“It also comes with class-leading robust 10 safety features along with additional features as standard across all variants,” he said.

Mr Odaymat also said that “this is the first batch of the KIA Carens that has been received for the launch”.

“But we are working closely with KIA and we believe that there is a big possibility that the second batch will be assembled in the country,” he said.

Rationale

Mr Odaymat further said that it was cheaper to assemble the vehicles locally than to import a fully built vehicle for the market.

That, he said, was due to the incentives provided by the national automotive policy.

“We are trying as much as possible to ensure that more KIA models will be assembled at our new plant in the Greater Accra Region.

“We want a situation in which if KIA has about 14 models, we will be able to assemble about 12 models,” he added.