Tenda Buses is among the established operators using Higer coaches
Business Reporter
DULY Trucks, a subsidiary of Croco Holdings, has been appointed the official distributors of Higer luxury and semi luxury buses from China that are now plying local and cross-border routes in Zimbabwe.
The buses with a seating capacity of up to 64 passengers are best suited for long distances particularly for those crossing the borders into neighbouring countries such as Zambia and South Africa.
Speaking at the launch of the buses at the company’s premises in Harare on Monday, Croco Holdings chief executive Mr Farai Matsika said the Higer brand joined the other renowned franchises held by the company including the UD, Ford, Toyota, Jaguar and Land Rover that were in the stable.
One of the reasons why the Higer buses were emerging in Zimbabwe was a result of the Look East policy that has seen some brands from European countries becoming pricey and alternatives from Asian and Chinese markets taking their place.
Previously some of these brands have come under scrutiny because they did not have a dependable back-up service and support locally.
The imposition of sanctions has also affected the free flow of some spare parts thus forcing bus operators to incur huge costs to access the spares from other countries that are friendly to Zimbabwe.
Mr Matsika said that the distributorship offers operators with systematic access to the latest trends and warranties that were previously not available for those who had imported the same buses directly from China and had to depend on support from neighbouring countries.
“We can assure you that there will be no downtime as our workshops are fully equipped to deal with all the technical issues relating to these buses,” Mr Matsika said at the function attended by several local bus operators.
He said that a financing package for the purchase of the buses had been structured with a local financial institution at favourable terms to enable operators to replenish their fleets.
Mr Matsika said that the technical specifications of the buses had been atoned to suit local conditions and a service centre will soon open in Harare to provide the back-up support. Other service centres will soon be set up around the country to cater for the needs of the bus operators.
The semi-luxury coach is going for US$138 000 while the luxury coach is going for US$212 000. some of the established operators using the Higer coaches is Tenda Buses.