Carlos Ghosn, head of Renault and Nissan, has done a deal with Colombian authorities that will give the local SofasaRenault assembly plant relief on VAT, import tariffs and income taxes for the next 10 years, according to local sources.
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The news followed Ghosn’s visit this week to meet local and French government representatives – including Colombian president Alvaro Uribe – and others including SofasaRenault CEO Germán Calle.
Ghosn hinted at the potential of the Colombian plant that will grow installed capacity from 60,000 vehicles a year in 2006 to 80,000 in 2008 (2.6% of Renault global sales ) by saying the Alliance would consider an assembly plant (or possibly just an additional line) for Nissan models to be distributed in the Andean countries.
“We are thinking about it. We have no answer yet but is a good possibility in the future”, he added.
“The plan is to sell 90,000 vehicles by 2009 in the area, but also to ship to some other markets like Mexico, Central America and Cuba,” said Ghosn.
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By GlobalDataNissan has two plants in Mexico (Aguascalientes and Cuernavaca) with some spare capacity.
The Colombian market has soared 29.6% to 236,014 units sold in the first 11 months of the year. Renault (both CKD and CBU) has grown 19.8% to 36,229 units while Nissan (CBU only) has increased sales 31.8% to 8,501 vehicles.
Juan Vargas
