Kia Motors on Thursday unveiled the 2018 Kia Sportage, which was assembled at Kia Auto Assembly plant in Nigeria.
Marketing Manager of Kia Motors, Mr. Wale Jimoh stated this at the unveiling event held in Lagos.
The newly redesigned best Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) with five year warranty was assembled in Nigeria to support Federal Government’s auto policy.
Jimoh who disclosed that many customers had already placed orders for the new SUV model expressed optimism that more Nigerians would embrace it as the nation’s economy bounces back.
He attributed the recovery being witnessed in the auto industry to the recent interventions on foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He said, “the whole of last year, we were in a thick recession and we (auto industry) are worst hit. It took a toll on people to buy the normal household things not to talk of buying a car which is considered a luxury. It really hit us and not only Kia but the whole of auto industry”.
“We are seeing some level of recovery to some extent because of the injection of forex into the market by CBN, it is not totally bringing it out because we didn’t go into recession at once but gradually, we are seeing some lights at the end of the tunnel.
“We are hopeful that if it is sustained for a while and for so long and we try as much as possible to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of forex in the economy, definitely it would have a whole lot of impact on recovery from recession and the economy at large”.
