After crafting a match-winning maiden Test century against Bangladesh on Saturday, West Indies cricketer Justin Greaves spoke about the importance of positive intent. More importantly, he stressed that being positive wasn’t always about getting maximum returns all the time, but rather putting things in place to continue to build the innings.
He said, “Positive doesn’t mean hitting boundaries all the time. Positive for me means leaving the ball well, looking to get the singles and obviously if there’s a bad ball, having the intent to put it away,” Greaves said.
At the opening of Nu Wave Automotive’s 28,000-square facility in El Socorro South, Nu Wave managing director, Michael Sealey, dropped his own cricket reference while discussing the challenges his business faced with regard to foreign exchange.
“I am sure we are well aware of the forex challenges that businesses face. And while this has been a clear and present danger for businesses like ourselves, we have no intention to sit in the pavilion and observe,” said Sealey, during his speech at the ceremonial opening of the facility.
“We are not complaining. So we understand Trinidad has limited forex. We’re not making as much as we used to in the past. So, we now have to be creative and look outside of Trinidad to solve that problem, and that’s what we’re doing to be able to continue to have premium products,” Sealey told the Business Guardian when asked about the company’s investment strategy amid the foreign exchange challenges.
“We keep searching. We go to every trade show continuously, every year to find partners with quality products that we could now rely on to be able to keep our standard where it’s supposed to be,” he said.
Indeed, Sealey showcased two other aspects of good batsmanship which can be translated to good business: the importance of building partnerships and also the ability to pick the gaps. The company has built relationships at these trade show events which have provided the fulcrum for its expansion in both the local and international market.
After attending a trade mission in 2023, Nu Wave became the local distributor of Peruvian battery line Enerjet, Sealey explained that this partnership not only gave him a lane to expand the company’s reach in the local market, but now through that partnership, the company is looking beyond the Caribbean.
It has plans in place to set up a battery assembly plant in Ghana. That opportunity also came about after attending the trade mission to Ghana, led by Minister of Trade and Industry, Paula Gopee-Scoon in March of this year.
“The initial purpose of that trade mission was to distribute our batteries into Ghana. But after having a meeting with the deputy trade minister, he highlighted the fact that everybody imports, there’s no manufacturing or assembly in the country. So we decided, okay, that may be an opportunity to be the first. So we consulted with our partners, and they were excited about it because they supply us with everything. So now we’re going to start assembly in Ghana very soon,” said Sealey.
He announced during the opening that the Ghana plant is set to be opened in 2025.
This point was supported by Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon, who arrived after the ribbon cutting to tour the facility.
“Nu Wave joined us on the trade mission to Ghana earlier this year, and they were considered one of the small businesses I know. But now I think they’ve headed into the medium category, for sure,” said Gopee-Scoon.
“There’s this now, this new business on the horizon, the assembly of batteries. Ghana is a huge market, and so even if you get half per cent of the population behind you, there’s business.”
Sealey explained his expansion plans did not stop there as he also announced the intention to develop a Nu Wave automotive franchise across the Caribbean.
“We are also in talks to introduce our franchise model, firstly to St Lucia and then to St Vincent in the first instance,” said Sealey, who explained that this was part of the company’s effort to circumvent the current foreign exchange challenges while also finding new ways to fund new investments.
“We are now expanding into the Caribbean, St Lucia, St Vincent, Barbados Grenada. They don’t have as much foreign exchange issues as we do. So, we are establishing businesses there so that will help us be able to continue doing what we’re doing, because we depend on foreign exchange. Everything we do, we have to import. So that our strategy now is to get into the Caribbean and sort out that foreign exchange issue,” said Sealey.
Despite having eyes on the regional and international market, Sealey explained that the new El Socorro facility was being set up to address a current shortcoming in the local industry.
He explained that while both the importation and sale of hybrid and electric vehicles had been on the rise, the number of certified specialists for the repair and maintenance of those vehicles was fairly low.
“If I’m to be honest, the reason that so much hybrids are being sold is because there are no duties on hybrid vehicles, so it’s a cheaper option. And more companies now, because of the restrictions with emissions and managing emissions, are investing heavily in hybrid and electric. I think the problem we see here is that the certification to deal with those vehicles is lacking,” said Sealey.
“That is where we are now going to be, that shining force in having that certification, not just for ourselves, but being able to certify other technicians so that they could really work on people’s vehicle in the right way,” he said.
“Our mission is to change the paradigm in the automotive industry,” he said, adding that the industry has changed.
“It is now purely technical. You now have to understand computers, and be able to do diagnostics. What we have realised is the vehicles actually tell you what is wrong with them and what we have realised is there are no institutions in Trinidad that train persons and certify them at the high level.”
Sealey said Nu Wave aims to get certified by the UK-based Institute of the Motor Industry by the first quarter of 2025, allowing the facility to be not just a service centre but also a training facility.
The new Nu Wave Automotive facility will offer comprehensive automotive services including tyres, alignment, suspension, auto air-conditioning servicing and repairs, electrical, cleaning, detailing, and fleet management.
The facility is also set to provide AI-driven solutions such as fleet maintenance tools and innovative diagnostic technology, while also acting as a warehouse and distribution centre for Enerjet Batteries.
It is Nu Wave’s third location, after opening branches at Stone Street, Port-of-Spain and in Petit Bourg along the Eastern Main road.