Ries Engineering SC signed an agreement with Ford Motor Company to be its local representative.

Via an ongoing process that started in January 2010, Ries Engineering SC has agreed to import light and heavy Ford vehicles including the Ford Ranger pickup, Ford Everest, and Ford Fiesta sedan, Fekadu Mengist, deputy managing director of Ries Engineering SC, said.

Other companies had competed for the deal, although he declined to name any of them. Only three of these companies were among the final choices for the company, which decided to settle for Ries, he said.

“Our agreement with Ford is significantly important, not only because we can import new vehicles, but also because we can service the already imported vehicles,” he said. “We are going to give maintenance services and provide accessories to Ford vehicles.”

The first 25 vehicles have reached Djibouti Port and are due to reach Addis Abeba within three weeks, the deputy managing director said. The company will officially launch the market in September 2010, he assumed.

Ford Motor Company had been represented by Ethio Investment Group for the local market in Ethiopia. But, following the Ethio Investment Group’s bankruptcy in 2009, there was no local representative of Ford.

Ries Engineering SC was established in 1965 by foreign investors, and currently employes more than 275 permanent staff. The company has been acknowledged for importing construction machinery and power generating sets from Caterpillar, a US company, and agricultural machinery from Massey Ferguson, of the UK, for the last 45 years.