The 5-seater IVM-branded tricycles popularly known as ‘Keke
Marwa’ joins lineup of vehicles from the company’s stable, including Connect,
Caris, G20 Smart, Ikenga, G40 and G80.
According to the company, diversifying into the production
of tricycles is its latest effort to expand its portfolio as it pushes for
growth.
The company said it plans to start the production of
IVM-branded tricycles in Nigeria later this year and its main goal is to help
crash the current price of tricycles in the domestic market.
“We are probably launching this year and we are going to
produce something that is eco-friendly,” Cornel Osigwe, Innoson’s head of
corporate communications, said on Friday.” We are going to produce something
much cheaper and more affordable that an average Nigerian can buy.”
Innoson, based in Nnewi, Anambra State, was founded by
Innocent Chukwuma. The company, reputed as Nigeria’s biggest automobile firm,
says it produces 70 per cent of its car parts locally while the rest is sourced
from Japan, China and Germany.
The firm has indicated it is taking steps to branch out of
its core business as it pushes growth. Last week, the Innoson Oil & Gas
Limited announced it was on the verge of discovering a huge deposit of 8.2
trillion cubic feet of gas and 234 MMbbl of condensate in Sierra Leone.
Mr Osigwe said the firm has already produced a prototype
tricycle, widely known in Nigeria as Keke, and the model is being tested
already in the Nigerian market.
“We produced about 100 prototypes that we gave out to
different people to test run and give us feedback on it,” he said.
“Right now, we don’t have them in stock for sale, the ones
we produce are just samples to collate information.
“We are testing it and we are getting different
recommendations. One of the recommendations we got is to make the engine
biofuel which we are going to do.
“So it will have the ability to use both gas and petrol,” he
added.
He said after gathering information from the people that
have tested it, the company will release the final product later in the year.
“We just did a few samples, the main equipment that we will
be using to mass-produce is still on the way,” he said.
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