Zim assembled car to hit market in 2020

Ndaka Majaka

ZIMBABWE’S locally assembled vehicle, a hatchback called the Prim8 (pronounced Primate), is set to debut in the first quarter of 2020, ushering in a new dawn for the country’s ailing motor industry, it’s manufactures said.

Tatenda Mungofa, founder and chief executive of the assembling firm, Mureza Auto Company (Mureza), said the family car would retail at an average of US$13 000.

“The car will be sold for US$13 000 and will have various financing models from local banks who have come on board,” Mungofa said during a news conference in the capital on Friday.

The Prim8 will initially be assembled at the Willowvale assembly plant, South Africa and Botswana.

Mureza is funded by financiers in the United Arab Emirates and has a joint venture with the Iran-based SAIPA Group for platform-sharing and the supply of components. The company plans to eventually design and manufacture vehicles locally.

This comes as Zimbabwe is mulling phasing out second-hand vehicle imports as part of the Zimbabwe Motor Industry Development Policy covering this year to 2030.