Toyota Zambia, the official distributor and dealer for brand new Toyota vehicles has disclosed that the company will be introducing new financing schemes that include trade-in and leasing effective this month – June 2020.
Toyota Zambia Chief Operations Officer – COO Nenad Predrevac told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that this scheme will promote new financing methods such as trade in and leasing for customers and that it will be done in conjunction with a bank to be unveiled soon.
“In order to make lives for our customers better and provide financing options, we are creating a financing scheme to promote trade in and leasing and currently we have engaged 3 banks out of which, one will be identified to collaborate with us,” He told ZBT.
When asked on the impact of coronavirus on the company, the COO disclosed that Toyota Zambia has lost over 40% of its expected sales since the outbreak Covid – 19 as a result of the inevitable health restriction and slow down in business.
He stated that car sales business has been slowing down since the second the quarter of 2019. Toyota Zambia has lost about 65% in sales volume from the second quarter on the market and this has seen a decrease in its overall sales numbers.
He disclosed that the current challenges facing the Zambian economy have led to a drop in performance for the automotive industry. The further stated that tight liquidity conditions on the market has made it hard for its customers to be able to pay on time.
The automotive industry has also been affected by the high interest rates currently prevailing, making car financing expensive for customers. “The cost of money is high for our customers”, stated Predrevac.
Pedrevac however said that despite the current hardships and decrease in sales, the group company has continued to manufacture vehicles and is hopeful that economic activities in the country will soon revamp to see other sectors resume to grow.
He further said the company is currently working on reducing its cost with the aim of keeping all its employees even after the global pandemic.
He said Toyota has on the other hand been adhering to Covid-19 health guidelines from health authorities for both its employees and customers and has since pledged to continue complimenting government’s efforts towards the fight against this corona virus.
