MONTEGO BAY, St James — A local motorcycle maker has opened new headquarters in Montego Bay as it pushes ahead with plans to become a major player in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to Conroy Ghans, his company, Ghans Auto Parts, is steadily building a name for its Missile brand of motorcycles, and recently introduced its Trey and Dillon brands across the region.

“We… have expanded the brand to Central America and in the Caribbean. If you go to Cuba you will see a number of Missiles moving people around,” he said during last week’s opening of the company’s Montego Bay store.

It is Ghans Auto Parts’s seventh location in Jamaica. The first was in Lucea, Hanover, its former headquarters; there is one in Kingston; two in St Elizabeth; and one each in Ocho Rios, St Ann, and Grange Hill, Westmoreland.

Ghans explained that while the motorcycles are made for his company by a firm in China he is involved in the entire process, from design to engine specs.

The company’s focus has now shifted beyond Jamaica’s borders.

“In Costa Rica and Guatemala we have some presence there, and we continue to work on other Caribbean countries to expand the brand,” Ghans said, adding that this will mean beefing up local operations.

Several motorcycles are now on display at Ghans Auto Parts on Union Street in Montego Bay.

“The demand for motorcycles in the Caribbean and these countries [is] strong, strong, strong and we can buy and move the products to these countries,” the businessman explained.

“We are looking at countries like Colombia, Dominican Republic, and others — these countries have a strong bike culture,” he added.

His foray into parts supplies was not planned but evolved organically.

“The wholesale division came about by accident because I had no intention of operating a wholesale section,” Ghans explained.

“When I went to the suppliers, the minimum quantities were so high I was unable to get rid of the excess so I used the wholesale medium to get rid of the excess goods — and that is when I started venturing deeply in wholesaling, realising the magnitude of the demand out there,” he added.

He said this has allowed the company to satisfy growing demand in the local market, which has also seen a boom.

Ghans Auto owner Conroy Ghans (centre) shows a motorcycle to a customer during the opening of the company’s new headquarters in Montego Bay.

“We are now supplying the entire Jamaica with motorcycles and motorcycle parts. But the bigger the brand is regionally, then the bigger the brand is locally, that’s our mindset,” he said.

Ghans explained that when he started the business more than a decade ago it was a small operation in Lucea, initially functioning as a general auto parts store before customer demand shifted towards motorcycles.

“We started selling CG motorcycles, the regular ones. They called them Yeng Yeng until a brand was developed called Yeng Yeng. We started out with those in smaller engines, CG150, then we moved up to CG200 until we advanced to CG250,” he said, providing some insight into the growing enterprise.

Now the company is looking at introducing something new to the Jamaican market. There was a sample on display at last week’s store opening in Montego Bay.

“It’s the first to arrive in Jamaica, a CG300. We [are] testing that model to see if the engine can handle the chassis and if the riders are able to handle the motorcycles, because we don’t want our motorcyclists to die or injure themselves,” Ghans said.

The sample was in the showroom where motorcycles will always be on display. Ghans’ stores will carry the Missile, Trey, and Dillon brands, which are licensed to Ghans Auto. Auto parts and accessories will also be available, and a partnership with Stallion Moto Peças will see a variety of its accessories on the shelves as well.

“We have increased our portfolio to include other motorcycles, dirt bikes, GNs, scooters, ATVs, UTVs, you name it… Our vision is to improve the mobility solutions in Jamaica,” said Ghans.