Our Reporter
The Federal Government, through the CEO/DG of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelili Aliyu, has praised the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Innoson Vehicle Manufacturer (IVM), Stallion and other local automobile manufacturers for investing over $1 billion annually into Nigeria’s auto industry.
He, however, lamented that over $8 billion is lost annually on the importation of over 300,000 to 400,000 used and old cars.
Aliyu spoke at Nigeria’s first parade of indigenous auto manufacturers and assemblers of different brands of vehicles.
PAN’s Executive Director of Sales and Marketing Shehu Dauda said the company was excited to be at the event. He hoped the brand would lead others at the end of the event.
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He said: “We are now multi-brand; we brought in one of our latest buses which is overdue; it is a rugged and affordable bus built with several options like TV, USB ports and creatively built to carry luggage with maximum comfort for users and customers.”
Daudu said the brand was exceptionally prepared for the Argungun rally which kicked off yesterday. He noted that PAN 508 was built for ruggedness and reliability.
He also hoped that with ongoing innovation and efforts of the NADDC, PAN will return to higher production with patronage to take the country back to glory when it was producing 90,000 cars with 4000 employees on its payroll.
Minister of Industry and Investment Adeniyi Adebayo, who opened the event, hailed the agency and manufacturers on their innovations at showcasing Nigerian-made cars. He said the President Muhumadu Buhari administration will explore every avenue to use the auto industry to create jobs.
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