{"id":37777,"date":"2018-06-27T15:50:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T15:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/maiden-rwanda-assembled-volkswagen-car-launched\/"},"modified":"2018-07-02T10:05:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T10:05:01","slug":"maiden-rwanda-assembled-volkswagen-car-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/maiden-rwanda-assembled-volkswagen-car-launched\/","title":{"rendered":"Maiden Rwanda assembled Volkswagen car launched"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first initiative for Rwanda automotive industry, Volkswagen Mobility Solutions is the German\u2019s car manufacturing firm.<\/p>\n

The Head of State said that some people found it hard to believe that German cars could be built in Rwanda. \u201cYet today, the first vehicles are rolling off the assembly line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis facility undoubtedly represents a new chapter, in Rwanda\u2019s journey of economic transformation. There are also positive implications for Africa more generally. Not only can global brands assemble high-quality products in Africa, they can also find customers here,\u201d Kagame said.<\/p>\n

Kagame said that Africa is not merely positioning itself as a new low-cost hub to manufacture goods for export, but African consumers will also be among the biggest contributors to growth in global demand in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

He challenged Africans on paying higher price to second hand, and requested them to think about new things.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica does not need to be a dumping ground for second-hand cars, or second-hand anything. In the long run, you end up paying a higher price anyway. If you pay a high price for second hand, why not pay for something new. Africa and Rwanda deserve better and this is one way of showing we can afford it,\u201d Kagame noted.<\/p>\n

{{How to move from assembling to manufacturing}}<\/p>\n

Kagame said that Volkswagen\u2019s operations in Rwanda reminds of working regionally. He said that Rwanda benefits from Volkswagen\u2019s investment in Kenya and urged East Africa to build a regional manufacturing base.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the mid-term, the only way for us in East Africa to move up the industrial value chain from assembly to manufacturing is to build an integrated regional manufacturing base,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we shift from a logic of competition to one of cooperation, we all gain. Success is about partnership and leveraging our strengths,\u201d Kagame tipped East Africa Member countries.<\/p>\n

He said that software and technology, combined with innovations in sales and distribution strategies will allow people to have routine access to a new car without the costs of ownership. <\/p>\n

{{Volkswagen Services
\n}}<\/p>\n

Speaking at the event, the Volkswagen Integrated Mobility Solutions in Rwanda Chief Executive Officer, Michaella Rugwizangoga said that in July they will start with Cooperate car sharing, a service dedicated to institutions, cooperates and non-government organisations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would start with forty vehicles and look to increase to 140 vehicles. This will be followed by ride-healing with initial fleet of 150 vehicles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said that in 2019, they will have public car sharing, with vehicles available in stations which can be self-driven. She said it will be followed by a charter service and peer to peer car sharing service.<\/p>\n

Thomas Sch\u00e4fer, Volkswagen South Africa Chief Executive Officer said that the launch of the plant cements another pillar into the ground of Volkswagen Sub-Saharan Africa strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to play a leading role in the emerging automotive industry in Africa as we pursue a rapid and flexible expansion strategy over the coming years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sch\u00e4fer said that Rwandans will buy different models assembled locally like VW Polo, VW Passat, VW Tiguan, VW Amarok and VW Teramont <\/p>\n

He said that their facilities in phase one have capacity to assemble 1000 cars per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs demand increases, we will move to phase two where we will increase the capacity up to 10,000 cars and from here we will move to the level of manufacturing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said that that they will spend $USD20 million in phase one. <\/p>\n

{{Price per brand
\n}}<\/p>\n

The Volkswagen\u2019s cheaper local assembled car model is VW Polo which is $23 881 (over Rwf20 million).<\/p>\n

For VW Passat is $37 674 (Around Rwf33 million), VW Tiguan is $37 719 (Rwf33 million), VW Amarok is $44 559 (over Rwf38 million) and VW Teramont is $48 156 (Rwf42 million) which is the expensive brand.<\/p>\n

\"Kagame<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAfrica does not need to be a dumping ground for second-hand cars,\u201d President Paul Kagame said Wednesday in Kigali while launching the first ever car assembling plant in Rwanda, Volkswagen Mobility Solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72],"byline":[197],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-37777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","byline-john-mbaraga"],"bylines":[{"id":197,"name":"John Mbaraga","slug":"john-mbaraga","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":19}],"contributors":[{"id":197,"name":"John Mbaraga","slug":"john-mbaraga","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":19}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37777"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=37777"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=37777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}