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The Automobile as a Product in Nigeria
PRODUCT UNDER REVIEW: The Automobile – Car, SUV, Van, Lorry, Truck, Trailer, Tanker.
SITUATION REPORT: Nigeria used to manufacture no vehicles of its own, but for many years now it has Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (part of the Innoson Group) making beautiful vehicles in Nnewi, Anambra State. At the same time, the country has assembly plants that make vehicles with imported Completely Knocked Down (CKD) parts. Thus Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN) makes salon and station wagon cars, SUVs, pickups and vans in Kaduna. After declined activity over a number of years, revitalised PAN is currently promoting new kids on the block: Sedans like Peugeot 301 and 508, SUVs like the 3008 and Partner Tepee, the All-New Peugeot Pickup and the Transporter called Higer Bus and Higer Ambulance.
Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANAMMCO) makes Mercedes Benz trucks, coaches and city buses in Enugu, with a whole lot of other vehicular repair and maintenance services, as well as the sale of relevant spare parts.
Steyr Trucks used to be assembled in Bauchi, but after divestment and neglect by major shareholders, the company has remained moribund for almost a decade and only money, plenty of investment money and will power can bring it back to life, because the sprawling premises and facilities are still there.
Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON), which used to assemble Volkswagen vehicles at Ojo, Lagos in partnership with German partners, developed a business ailment and almost died, but the Stallion Group of Companies stepped in, gave it a short of the money vaccine to keep it alive and immune, by virtue of which VON is presently a member of the Stallion Group, which has commissioned a state-of-the-art vehicle assembly plant in Lagos making it ready “to assemble a range of branded passenger vehicles with the highest quality standards”. The Group is partnering with global auto giants looking to invest in Africa in order to assemble at the plant products “that are best suited to the road severity of West Africa”.
There is a number of other vehicle assembly projects ventured into mainly by the Government, but which all had still births.
BRANDS: Apart from the above mentioned brands, all other types of vehicles in Nigeria are imported, brand new or fairly used, and most of the brands that matter on earth are in Nigeria, the brands of which we shall feature one by one in subsequent posts.
PRICING: The price of a brand new car in Nigeria today, imported or not, is astonishing and annoying. After a continuous and continual devaluation of the Nigerian currency, from a ratio of $1 to =N=1 in November 1986 to a ratio of $1 to =N=484 in 2021, the price of the cheapest brand-new car (a 1.8 litre Toyota Corolla, for instance) that would have been like three thousand Naira is today about twenty million Naira, which only one percent of the population can honestly afford.
RECOMMENDATIONS: As we insist always, import your own car if you can, brand new or fairly used. It is always cheaper and safer. It is safer only if you secure the vehicle in a container because, like in many countries of the world, there is a problem of Port rats in Nigeria, where imported vehicles waiting for clearing and forwarding are tampered with at the sea Ports and valuable parts removed from them; but if you can’t import it, buy it brand new.
If you must buy a used one, like we mentioned in our article: How To Buy a Used Vehicle in Nigeria, get a qualified mechanic to inspect the vehicle thoroughly and advise you in respect of any tampering that must have been done with it, as well as availability of spare parts, etc. There is a problem of spare parts with certain brands of used vehicles in Nigeria, mainly because the original manufacturers of the vehicle have stopped making the parts and all types of alternative spare part manufacturers have taken over. The result? One hundred percent fake spare parts for used vehicles. You have to change them every few weeks, if not days. It is that bad.
We went to town to ask Nigerians the question: Import your own vehicle or buy an imported one from local dealers? See their opinion in the video below.
Next: The 5 Best Vehicle Brands in Nigeria
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