The Nation Newspaper

Category: Motoring

  • Massilia Motors takes L200 Pickup for test drive

    Massilia Motors, the sole distributor of Mitsubishi vehicles in Nigeria and a joint venture between CFAO and Chanrai Group, has taken the new Mitsubishi L200 Pickup for a test drive.

    Unveiled at the Landmark beach, Victoria Island, Lagos, the ruggedness of the award-winning pickup was put to test by auto reporters and lovers.

    Earlier, the pickup was presented by top officials of Massilia Motors led by its Managing Director/CFAO Country Delegate, Mr. Thomas Pelletier.

    The two-in-one event was picked when the curtain LED screens slid open and the L200 pick-up emerged on the podium to the delight of customers, celebrities and automotive journalists.

    Pelletier said: ‘’Massilia Motors started business three years ago and, so far, it has been a successful story with the Mitsubishi L200 as a major contributor. The Mitsubishi L200 is very important to us because it represents 80 per cent of our sales, and I am optimistic that customers will like the new generation L200″.

    The Mitsubishi L200 pickup gained popularity through its constant evolution in the last 40 years thanks to its driving dynamics, running costs, standard kit and attractive prices.

    Pelletier, who maintained that ‘’in terms of value for money, we are the best because we do not compromise in quality delivery and our Mitsubishi cars have been tried and tested over the years. Our after-sales support is backed by qualified technicians who have been adequately trained by the Japanese manufacturer.”

    Massilia Motors General Manager, Sales, Tunji Itiola explained that the Mitsubishi L200 is the best-selling model in the brand’s line up and that   its market share increased significantly in 2018.

    According to him, the enhanced rugged exterior features and advanced safety features are prominent inclusions in the new vehicle, which comes in three variants: single/double cabins 4×2 and double cabin 4×4 powered by 2.4-litre engine. The new pickup is already available in Massilia showrooms and dealers nationwide.

    The L200 is used as a utility vehicle in various applications, such as construction sites, fast-moving consumer goods distribution, and oil field sites.

    Aside the new L200, the firm also distributes the legendary Pajero, Pajero Sport, Outlander, Eclipse Cross and ASX.

  • Kewalram Chanrai to distribute Jeep, Fiat, others

    Kewalram Chanrai Group has secured the exclusive right to distribute Fiat, Jeep, Chrysler auto brands in the country.

    It got the deal after it became the franchise representatives of FCA auto brands in Nigeria.

    The FCA Group is the renowned manufacturer of Italian and American auto brands, such as Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati.

    The automobiles, such as the Jeep Wrangler, Compass, Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee SRT version, Dodge Durango, Fiat Tipo, Fiat Pickup and the Ram Open back are already on display at the firm’s showroom on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    According to the company, more models would be added.

    The company has also set in motion a strong mechanism to spread the presence of the brands to other parts of the country using its already established branch network.

    The acquisition of marketing rights is a major boost to Kewalram Chanrai’s reputation as a diverse conglomerate with strong presence in 12 countries, including Nigeria. It has a distribution history spanning over 150 years.

    As part of its repositioning strategy to ensure dominance in the market, the company has strengthened its after sales services for enhanced service delivery.

    The after-sales personnel, it was learnt, were trained by the manufacturers’ technical workers.

    Chanrai was said to have chosen as the exclusive distributor for the FCA brands because of its strong pedigree in the auto business as well as its firm commitment to the provision of after-sales service.

    Fiat Group, the Italian auto maker had in 2014 acquired 100 per cent ownership in Chrysler Group, the American premium car company in a move that integrated the financial and the technical aspects of the two groups into one. The merger created a multi-national organisation that operates in more than 140 countries.

    Jeep is a world-class brand that has been in production for more than seven decades.

    The brand has benefited from renowned luxury car makers from Europe, making the brand one of the best in the market.

    Dodge Brand is one of the popular brands in the world. A member of the revered Chrysler family and now Fiat  Group, Dodge specialises in the production of  Sports Utility Vehicles (SVU), passenger cars, large pickup and multi-purpose vehicles. Some of its products include the Durango SUV, Neon sedan, Dakota pickup and minivan.

    Chrysler brand boasts of products, such as PT Cruiser, Town and Country minivan.

    The Fiat brand is one of European brands. It is renowned for making affordable durable cars, especially mini cars and compact sedans. Its newly introduced small pickup is fast becoming the toast of pickup buyers across the globe. The Fiat Group is a big player in the luxury car segment with brands like Alfa Romeo and Maserati.

    With these arrays of models, Kewalram Chanrai Group said Nigerians are in for the best of vehicles.

  • It is unviable for a country to own assembly plant, says Nissan chief

    The Nissan Group of Africa has said it is unviable for every country in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to own a vehicle assembly plant.

    The auto giant said rather, each country should concentrate on its area of comparative advantage.

    Nissan, therefore, sought a masterplan that could make regional trade agreements in ECOWAS sustainable and competitive.

    Its Director of Sales and Operations, Jim Dando, suggested that while some countries should specialise in producing tyres, others should concentrate batteries and shock absorbers and those countries which do not, could assemble vehicles.

    However, he warned that countries should not produce the same vehicle.

    On the demand for vehicle plants in the region, Dando said: “Investing in an automotive plant is a huge undertaking, where there have to be incentives in place for the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and there has to be a very strong message against grey import market because these cars are being brought in cheaper than we can make them.”

    He said grey imports were problematic, not because they skew the market, but because they create expectations about after sales service, which the manufacturers often couldn’t meet because the vehicles are not made for Africa and, therefore, there can’t be spare parts or technicians to service them.

    He urged the various governments to be proactive and not be misled by the huge revenue in duties that accrue from grey imports.

    “The challenges we wrestled with are that used cars are imported in great quantities, and it is assumed that they generate a lot of revenue in duties and sometimes, governments are blinded by this, and when this happens, it blocks opportunity for industrialisation,” he said.

    The governments, he said, should raise import tariffs and duties on grey imports and drop the duties on locally made vehicles, allowing the OEMs to import other range of vehicles at discounted duties.

  • Driver recognition, motivation and education

    I was moved to write on this topic because of the two incidents that occurred about two weeks ago. The first involved a disgruntled driver who protested by setting on fire the school bus he was driving with 52 children.

    The second was the collision of two buses which led to the untimely death of about 60 passengers.

    There has been hues and cries about the high rate of accidents but the needed attention is not being paid to the drivers who constitute about 70 percent of the human factors responsible for road crashes.

    I have carried out research on employers’ attitude to drivers but the results are very far from what obtain in so other countries. A lot of employers do not see drivers as human beings or workers that need recognition and encouragement.

    The fact remains that drivers are among the most relevant staff needed for the survival and growth of any organisation whether the organisation owns vehicles or their staff use public transport.

    An error on the part of other staff of an organisation can be corrected without claiming lives but an error on the part of a driver can be very catastrophic. The life of the president can be easily terminated through an error on the part of his driver. The life of the best technocrat can be terminated through driver error. The life of the richest man can be terminated through driver error. The life of the most guarded or secured person can be terminated through driver error. The list of damages that can emanate from driver error is endless. Why then should some employers downgrade their drivers as if they are nonentities?

    Some look and address their drivers as illiterates and fools. This is a very wrong assessment and attitude. Driving is one of the most complex, if not the complex in the whole world mainly because of the numbers of the organs of the body simultaneously involved and the likely consequences of errors on the part of drivers. High level of knowledge, skills and wisdom are needed to drive safely in all situations. Therefore, whether safety conscious drivers are lettered or not, they are highly intelligent for successfully perceiving hazards, analysing the likely impacts and taking appropriate decisions that guaranteed safety in the face of the actions and inactions of other road users.

    Sometimes ago while doing a research, a driver lamented that his monthly salary when broken down is less than N2,000. The same driver spends an average of N800 on transport, works Monday to Saturday, eats N100 snacks most of the days, married with children, pays rent for a room apartment and drives a N15 million worth of vehicle in the organisation. The driver said, no matter the number of times his boss eats, he never for once gave him a leftover. He preferred to take the remnant home for his dogs. The total amount his boss has ever dashed him as gift for the five years he has worked with him is less than N5,000.

    The driver told me that most of the time he drives his boss within or outside the town, he sleeps in the car. He said he used to be so filled with anger on how he was being maltreated that he would sometimes press down the brake suddenly without any reason but just to disrupt his sleep. He said he thought of the damage he could do to the organisation.

    Many organisations have no provision of hotel accommodation for their drivers when outside their station, thereby compelling the drivers to sleep inside the vehicle. This habit fuels malaria, muscle cramps and fatigue for drivers which could hinder safe driving. Drivers are very vital in any organisation and should, therefore, be so recognised.They should be well- motivated in terms of salaries, housing allowance, transport allowance, overtime allowances, out-of-station allowances, hotel accommodation no matter how small or cheap the hotel room is, accident-free allowance and any motivation.

    Read also: 19 killed, 38 injured in Katsina road accident

    The emotion of a driver has a very strong influence on the visual, cognitive and physical effectiveness of the driver. Employers must ensure their drivers are well trained and updated regularly because of the dynamism in vehicle technology, ccupational health and road traffic regulations, among other factors. While the accredited driving schools  should focus more professional attention on driver training and re-retraining, the regulatory authorities should focus more attention on monitoring and certification of organisations (not drivers) for compliance to driver recognition, motivation and training.

    With the above well-considered and acted upon without compromise by the employers of drivers, drivers, professional or accredited driving schools and the regulatory authorities, a lot will be achieved in the reduction of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths on the roads.

  • Uber, AXA Mansard parley on safety

    Driver-partners registered on the Uber app, last Friday parleyed with the law enforcement officials, health and safety organisations, and members of the local Uber team on safety and security.

    Topics on where to obtain original vehicle registration details, minimise risks and prevent accidents, improve well-being and stress management for driver-partners, and a run-through of Uber’s in-app safety features were treated.

    Uber West Africa General Manager Lola Kassim said the firm is committed to safety and working to build a better experience for driver-partners.

    “It made sense for us to collaborate with relevant safety and security experts, and organisations like AXA Mansard to organise a workshop that provides driver-partners with relevant and useful safety tips. The Driver safety tips are designed to help driver-partners feel empowered to be safe and help them make safe decisions before, during, and after every ride,” Kassim said.

    Speaking on the safety, Greenlight Operations Manager for West Africa O’Yoma Ukueku, said: “At Uber, we’re working to help make cities safer, and that includes listening to those who protect and serve our communities every day. The workshop was designed to give driver-partners access to knowledge and information facilitated by subject matter experts on a wide variety of subjects that are critical to safety while on trips.

    ‘’As safety is a critical pillar to us at Uber, we are striving to ensure that driver-partners have access to information that improves the quality and safety of rides.”

    According to West Africa/Sub-Saharan Africa Communications Head Francesca Uriri, the workshop was part of a week-long Safety-Week initiative aimed at amplifying and re-iterating Uber’s ‘Safety Never Stops’ narrative of making rides safer and more secure for driver-partners and riders.

    Uber recently announced its new Safety Toolkit, which began a phased roll out to over 134 00 active riders and over 9 000 active drivers across the country.

    The toolkit will introduce new innovative features such as a driver in-app emergency button and speed alerts, which aim to raise the bar on safety, and increase transparency, accountability and peace of mind for all users.

  • ‘Fair to boost activities’

    The organiser of the Lagos International Motor Fair and Autoparts Expo, BKG Exhibitions Limited, has said the fair would revive activities in the sector.

    The expo, the firm said, would showcase capacities and potential of the sector, thereby improving the economy.

    Its Managing Director, Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, said the seemingly intractable lull in the sector is taking a lot of shine out of the industry making it difficult for stakeholders to showcase the abundant opportunities and offers in the sector.

    Agwu said it was no longer news that the automotive sector is passing through tough times, saying: “What should be on every stakeholders’ mind is how do we unite to combat the challenges one of which is using the platform to bring the sector into the front burner of economic discuss in the country.

    “We are going to add more energy to promoting the spare parts sub-sector. This is informed by our determination to champion the development and thriving of auto parts sub-sector as leeway to fast-tracking the development of the automotive industry.

    “In this edition as we have been doing for sometime, we will champion the autoparts section so as to making Nigeria the hub of the business in Africa. We want to make it a strong point of real taking off of a realisable auto policy.”

    Agwu urged the Federal Government to focus more on spare parts manufacturing instead of assembling.

    According to him, spare parts are the place where the real technology transfer takes place. It involves precision and proper planning more than the coupling that takes place in assembling.

    This will give rise to establishing of more Original Equipment Manufacturers and increase employment.

    He said there should be a review of the ongoing auto policy to make it achieve the desired ends.

  • Motor Fair organiser seeks govt’s assistance

    The organiser of the Lagos International Motor Fair and Autoparts Expo Nigeria, BKG Exhibitions, has urged the Federal Government to assist manufacturers of auto spare parts.

    Its Managing Director, Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, at a briefing  on the 14th edition of the fair in Lagos, said the exhibition would boost the development of the auto parts sub-sector and the auto industry.

    “In this edition as we have been doing for sometime, we will champion the need to institute and drive a well thought out policy and programme to re-jig the sector to making Nigeria the hub of automotive business in Africa,” he said.

    Agwu, who is also the Chairman of the Organising Committee, said spare parts are the place where the real technology transfer takes place.

    “It will give rise to establishing of more Original Equipment Manufacturers and increase employment,” he said.

    He canvassed review of the ongoing auto policy to make it achieve the desired ends.

    According to him, the sector is very important as it shows the state of the economy and generates much revenue with enormous employment opportunities.

    He said: “No serious government toys with it. Auto sector was one of the key sectors that received bailout from the American government during the last global economic meltdown and it helped to revamp the economy.

    “It is a sector that drives the economy; if it is badly affected, other sectors suffers. It is the artery of the economy. The government should parley seriously with the sector stakeholders to seeing how it could be made better.”

    Citing Algeria, Agwu said the  third Motor Show witnessed over 300 participants due to their government’s support. This year’s, he added, would hold at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos from May 6-11.

    “In no distant future, the event will become a big event spreading to other countries in the continent. Nigeria has the resources and capacity to play such a role and it will be a very big disservice to Nigeria and its people if another African country does this ahead of Nigeria,” he added.

  • Weststar celebrates G-Class at 40

    Weststar, the authorised General Distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria, is celebrating 40 years of Mercedes-Benz G-Class with a new model.

    The new G-Class has been hailed as the “biggest transformation” in the G’s 40 years-old history. Weststar said it raises the bar in all relevant areas while maintaining familiar and popular features from its design icon.

    The new G-Class performs even better off-road. On the road, it is significantly more agile, dynamic and comfortable than its predecessor. This new model gives the “G” a befitting persona to marking its landmark age.

    The G-Class is a top model among luxury off-road vehicles. It is not only the passenger car model series with the longest production run in the history of Mercedes-Benz, but also the forefather of all Sport Utility Vehicles) (SUVs) to bear the three-pointed star – reason Mercedes off-road models feature the upper-case G in their name. The G-Class celebrates a landmark as it turns 40 this year.

    Its story began in 1972 with collaboration between then Daimler-Benz AG and Steyr-Daimler-Puch in the Austrian city of Graz.

    The first concept to be developed was already different. The team designed a vehicle which impressed with superior off-road capability, while at the same time appealing to customers as a full-featured and safe vehicle suitable for recreational purposes.

    All-wheel drive and 100-percent differential locks have also been part of the “G” since that time, as has the robust ladder-type frame.

    At the time of its market launch, in the spring of 1979, it was available with a choice of four engine variants covering a performance range from of 53 kW/72 hp to 115 kW/156 hp. Customers had the option of a Cabriolet with a short wheelbase or Station Wagon models with short or long wheelbase.

    The G-Class models used for the “Popemobile” are famous around the world. The off-road Mercedes-Benz 230 G painted in “mother of pearl” with a transparent special body accompanied Pope John Paul II on numerous journeys from 1980.

    The 25th anniversary of the G-Class was marked by the arrival of a very special model on the market, honed by Mercedes-AMG; the G 55 AMG Kompressor. Its eight-cylinder power unit (350 kW/476 hp, 700 Nm of torque) gave the robust off-roader an unprecedented level of performance and demonstrated the tremendous potential of the G-Class.

    The G 500 4×4² of 2015 added not only a luxurious interior to the equation, but also a ground clearance of 45 centimetres and impressive on-road performance. Since 2015, the “designo manufaktur” range has been providing customers with the option to take a G-Class and make it their own individual “G” – with exclusive equipment variants that are perfectly coordinated with each other.

  • Cars45, Enyo partner on service delivery

    Cars45 has partnered Enyo Retail and Supply, an innovative fuel retail brand, to increase its retail footprints and provide consumers with opportunities to buy, sell or swap their cars at all Enyo service stations nationwide.

    The deal is in continuation of the online vehicle trading platform’s drive to facilitate ease of access and deliver more convenient services.

    Both firms expect that the launch of the partnership would enable consumers experience automotive services at Enyo retail outlets and increase visibility for Cars45.

    Cars45 Chief Executive Officer Etop Ikpe said the relationship is  aimed at helping the company to achieve its mission to build an ecosystem that enhances, enables and drives trade within the nation’s automotive sector.

    ‘’This partnership with Enyo affords us the opportunity to deepen the pervasiveness of our products and services across the country. We are always seeking innovative approaches to expand and transform the currently fragmented automotive ecosystem and offer support across all the automobile trade, repair and verification services.

    “Cars45 and Enyo  have become synonymous with engaging customers through excellent retail experiences,’’ Ikpe said.

  • Hyundai to introduce Smartphone key

    Hyundai is to introduce new ‘digital key’ technology on future models, allowing drivers to unlock and start their car via a smartphone. Selected new cars will start offering the technology during this year.

    Users will download the digital key as an app, with each car allowing up to four authorised devices.

    The system uses highly secure near field communication (NFC) technology, with antennas fitted in the front door handles and in a wireless charging pad inside the car. Users unlock the car by bringing an authorised smartphone close to the door, then start the car by placing it on the charging pad and pressing a start/stop button.

    The vehicle will also recognises each user’s preferred settings, such as position of mirrors, seats and the steering wheel, as well as controls for the audio, video and navigation systems, and the head-up display.

    Hyundai’s Head of Operations for the Middle East and Africa Mike Song said: “This is a practical application of Hyundai’s connected vehicle technology to create new, genuinely useful functions. Not only will people be able to use their smartphone in place of a key, but they will also be able to authorise other drivers simply by sharing the app, without having to keep track of multiple sets of car keys.”

    When sharing the car, a Hyundai owner will be able to limit the functions available for each digital key. This could include placing a time-limit for when the key will expire or setting an alert to warn the owner if the car is being driven too fast or is outside a designated area.

    “The Digital Key will benefit a very wide range of future Hyundai customers, as well as enabling innovative new schemes for vehicle sharing,” said Ho Yoo, Group Leader of Hyundai Motor Group’s Electronics Development Group.

    “We are studying other ways to harness this type of connected-car technology to greatly enhance the driving and ownership experience,” Yoo added.

    Hyundai has also outlined plans to be the first car company to introduce smart fingerprint technology that allows drivers to unlock and start the car. Announced late in 2018, fingerprint technology will be introduced for selected markets on the New-generation Santa Fe to be launched during the first quarter of the year.