Fiat to help Ivory Coast build buses for Africa
ABIDJAN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A newly formed company in Ivory Coast, backed by European truckmaker Iveco (FIA.MI), aims to build buses for West Africa's thronging public transport routes, a company official said on Thursday.
Abidjan Transport Company (Sotra) which is 40 percent owned by Iveco-France, part of industrial giant Fiat, says its vehicles are designed and built specifically to withstand Africa's potholed roads and extreme weather.
"First of all we want to meet Abidjan's needs ... but also we want to expand into the regional market. We want to produce vehicles for our neighbours like Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal," said Delmarc Diomande Deli, head of quality control at Sotra. The buses are designed and built in Ivory Coast by Ivorians, Sotra said. Iveco will make the bus chassis and send them to Abidjan for assembly by Sotra.
Sotra has made three prototypes which were presented to Ivorian authorities this week, and aims to build another seven by the end of this year and 50 in 2009.
Buses in West African cities are frequently battered through heavy use on poorly maintained roads that flood in the storms of the rainy season and are thick with dust in hot, dry weather.
Many journeys are so crowded that passengers who cannot find a seat or standing room inside, leap on to the bodywork and hang on to the back of the bus.
About 80 percent of Iveco's business is in western Europe, where it expects sales to fall by 5-10 percent next year as credit lines dry up. (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Quentin Bryar)
