Sotra presented its first three prototype buses, dubbed Eburnis, to the national authorities last week. Guests included Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo who praised the work of the company; certain other members of the government also attended.

Fiat Group division Iveco has kicked off a new project in the Ivory Coast with Sotra (Abidjan Transport Company) that will see it supplying architecture and helping to develop a new generation of buses that are capable of coping with the demanding road surfaces of Western Africa. Sotra has been formed especially with the purpose of building buses for its domestic market as well as other countries in the region and a 40 percent stake is being held in the new Abidjan-based venture by Iveco France. Ivory Coast is a former French colony and France retains very strong links with the West African nation, including supplying peacekeeping troops.

The bus chassis’ will be manufactured in Europe and then shipped to the Ivory Coast where bespoke bodies developed and built locally, with input from Iveco, will be fitted. The buses have been designed to withstand the rigours of the local surfaces where pot holes and road surface damage is an everyday occurrence as well as coping with extreme wet and dry weather conditions which can reduce the Ivory Coasts’ roads to mudslides or dust bowls.

According to Sotra’s quality control chief, Delmarc Diomande Deli, the company sees wider sales potential for its buses beyond the confines of the Ivory Coast. "First of all we want to meet Abidjan's needs, he told reporters at the end of last week, “but also we want to expand into the regional market. We want to produce vehicles for our neighbours like Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal.”

Sotra presented its first three prototype buses, dubbed Eburnis, to the national authorities last week. Guests included Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo who praised the work of the company; certain other members of the government also attended. Sotra will build a further seven units by the end of this year. In 2009 it plans to build 50 units before ramping up production the following year. With most buses in Africa being old, poorly maintained and nearly always overcrowded, Sotra believes it has a very viable business plan.

For Iveco the arrangement with Sotra represents another step in a strategy towards reaching global developing markets and leveraging its reputation for building tough, reliable and easy-to-use products that are also very effective and cost-conscious. Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne has made the automotive group’s penetration into new developing markets around the world a cornerstone of his strategy and Iveco already has operations in several African countries, notably in several North African countries.