Production of domestic vehicles hit 7000 per annum

From an installed capacity of 408,000 vehicle, Nigeria’s vehicle production capacity has hit 7000 vehicles per annum, it was revealed yesterday.

In 2013, the country assembled 1000 units of vehicles made locally from an installed capacity of 108,000 but the figure rose by about 700 per cent in 2017 following the 

Disclosing this in Lagos was a former Director with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Luqman Mamudu during an Automechanika Road Show organized by Messe Frankfurt ahead of Automechanika 2018 holding in Dubai. 

Speaking at the fair Mamudu who recently retired from NADDC as the Director of Policy and Planning, also disclosed that the country spends $2bn annually to import vehicle parts and components.

He spoke just as Abdulrahman Kurdieh, Regional Brand Development Manager, Messe Frankfurt Middle East said Automechanika remained the largest international automotive trade exhibition in the wider Middle East  offering opportunities capable of growing Nigeria’s auto industry. 

The ex-NADDC Director recalled that Nigeria used to produce 150,000 units of vehicles per annum from an installed capacity of 200,000 but lamented that suddenly the system collapsed and the production went down to 2000. 

According to him, the country’s auto industry dated back to 1971-72 up to 1980 when the Federal Government set up six Assembly plants in Lagos, Kaduna, Ibadan, Kano, Bauchi and Enugu.

He said Nigeria also had many component parts’ manufacturers but regretted that the gains of the past were eroded by the economic restructuring foisted on the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said the present production level of 7000 vehicles per annum was achieved with the launch of the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP).