Volkswagen Zimbabwe

Aiming at becoming a top-five motoring brand in Zimbabwe within five years, Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles are re-launched in Zimbabwe with a new distributor and a new market-penetration strategy.

CFAO Motors Zimbabwe will this month (March 2015) open its new operational headquarters in Harare, from where it will host new vehicle sales, genuine-parts sales and a full service offering.

Marius Prinsloo, managing director of CFAO Motors Zimbabwe said “Volkswagen has entered into an agreement with African Automotive Trading, a subsidiary of CFAO, to re-organise distributorship in Kenya, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe”. The same set up has already been in place in Tanzania and Uganda for a couple of years now.

“The Volkswagen brands have enormous market potential, based on their international reputation for customized innovations, high quality, and reliability”, he said. The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. In 2014, the Group increased the number of vehicles delivered to customers to 10.4 million units.

“We will increase the presence of the brands in Zimbabwe and it is our belief that we can achieve top-five status within the short to medium term. Our clear marketing and sales strategy will be the creation of greater awareness of Volkswagen and its models.”

Models on sale include the Polo Hatch, Polo Sedan, Tiguan, CC, Touareg, Caddy, Amarok, T5 Bus/Van and Crafter. The renowned Golf and Jetta will be available in the second quarter of the year, and the New Passat will also be introduced later in 2015. State-of-the-art technology is being installed in the new vehicle workshop, which uses direct advanced communications with Volkswagen in Germany to offer flawless service capacity and support.

A team of 28 people is already involved with the Volkswagen operation, based in a temporary facility, formerly known as Golden Stairs Garage in Mt Pleasant, Harare. The premises include a showroom, service workshop and parts centre, adjacent to the bonded warehouse for the Volkswagen model range. A new facility for the Volkswagen brands will be constructed.

“This investment in Volkswagen Zimbabwe is based on a confident expectation that the future market here is both positive and attractive,” said Mr Prinsloo.

“Our planned operations roll-out will be beneficial for customers, the motor trade and the country as a whole.”