Holland Car plc, first automobile assembler in Ethiopia, has reached a Joint venture agreement with a transport company based in the Democratic Republic Congo, TRC-City to assemble Ahadu Bus and Abay Executive.
Holland Car owns 30% of the Joint Venture of the new assembly plant to be constructed in Kinshasa with the other 70% shared equally between the founding partners of TRC said Engineer Tadesse Tessema General Manager of the company.
Holland expects to show case the first Ahadu Bus assembled in the DRC in the coming four months according to sources.
The company has invested 8.5 million birr in the development of the first trailer bus in Ethiopia according to Engineer. The bus, which has the capacity to carry 250 people but has not been put into service due to low demand, was marketed at cost of 1.6 million birr.The bus will be marketed in the DRC under the new brand name ‘Trans City’.
It is to be remembered that Holland car delivered 48 new cars powered by a Variable Valve Timing engine which controls the opening and closing time of the intake values as the engine works under different conditions enhancing the power performance of the vehicle as well as lowering its fuel consumption said Engineer Haileleul Tadesse, General Manager of the Assembly Plant.
The new engine is made from aluminum, reducing weight by 29%, fuel consumption by 6% and improving engine power by an estimated 10% according to Haileleul.
Holland is preparing to transition from semi-knockdown assemblage, to complete knock down which will mean that all parts, including the internal combustion engine and the transmission will be imported in pieces for welding, assembly and painting at the plant here in Ethiopia.
Source: Capital
