Ford Motor Company has said it is taking action to improve parts availability in Nigeria and other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This, it said, in a statement obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, would be achieved by expanding the service of its Middle East Parts Distribution Centre to dealers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It said, “Ford’s goal for the facility is to help expedite the delivery of parts to dealers throughout SSA, and improve customer satisfaction in this important region where sales of Ford vehicles are on the rise.
“The PDC is capable of stocking up to 50,000 unique types of parts, or six million total pieces from all of Ford’s production locations around the globe.”
Ford sold 13,371 vehicles in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, representing a 16 per cent increase from 2011, it said.
Before now, it recalled that Ford dealers had ordered parts from each vehicle’s country of origin (North America, Europe, South Africa and Thailand), which resulted in lengthy delivery and shipping times that varied greatly, depending on the source location.
The statement said, “More regular shipments from a single location will significantly reduce the time customers will have to wait for parts to arrive at their service locations, as approximately 92 per cent of the parts most often used for vehicle service or repairs will be in stock and immediately available at the PDC.
“Order to delivery time from the PDC to dealers in SSA will improve substantially, with parts orders now arriving at dealerships in as few as two days.”
It quoted Ford Customer Service Division Regional Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. John Earp, as saying, “By providing a one-stop-shop resource for parts for our dealers, Ford is demonstrating its commitment to customer service in SSA.”