Ela Motors: LNG to spur sales

 By SHIRLEY MAULUDU

ELA MOTORS has expressed confidence that the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will generate more business for the company this year.

National sales manager David Lowe said Ela Motors expected more sales once the gas project started generating revenue.

“They said of gas going out around August and September … it (sales revenue) depends on when that money will flow to the communities … that’s the time when we could project our sales.

“When LNG sends monies out to the communities, sales will pick up from there,” he said.

Ela Motors made K980 million last year from sales across the whole business, Lowe said. 

He said the company’s expansion of business operations with 16 dealerships nationwide contributed to the big revenue last year. 

“It is also a result of how hard our staff has worked to keep our customers.”

Lowe said another factor that contributed to the overall result was the quality of products the company sold.

However, Lowe said sale was a bit slow last year, compared with the previous years with the build-up of LNG project.

“The early stages of the LNG project resulted in a surge in sales through the end of 2009 through to the end of 2012. 

Lowe said: “In 2013, we saw more fleet replacement and many of the major fleets were consolidated on projects no longer required for the LNG.”

He thanked the government for investing in infrastructure such as roads as this would allow for companies like Ela Motors to thrive. 

“The government is doing well in its spending, in investing in infrastructure and road maintenance,” Lowe said.

“Investing money in road construction is good for business. 

“For PNG to continue growing like it did over the past few years, there should be better roads connecting communities, which would result to more jobs.