‘450,000-capacity plants churn out 15,000 vehicles in five years’

Aresearch has shown that 40 vehicle assembly plants operating in the country in the last five years churned out 15,000 units of vehicles from cumulative capacity of 450,000 vehicles.

The research also showed that from an average cumulative annual capacity of 90,000 vehicles, the annual output for all the plants are 375 vehicles.

An automotive expert, Dr. Oscar Odiboh presented the research, saying the nonpassage

of the automotive bill by successive governments has stifled the performance of local vehicle assemblers with the plant owners losing N2.5tr in investment.

He reeled out the figures in his paper titled: “Zero Patronage, Zero Tariff and the Redefinition of Patriotism by Nigeria’s Automobile Industry” at the 2019 Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) Training Workshop held in Lagos at the weekend.

Daily Trust reports that President Muhammadu Buhari recently declined assent to the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) Bill known as Auto Policy Bill.

It was the second term the Bill would suffer setbacks from successive governments. The latest Bill rejected by Buhari has a five-year timeline (20132018) which has elapsed.

Industry players and auto dealers say without the Auto Policy Bill which serves as a legal bulwark for prospective investors, the move to attract Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) into the country may remain a pipedream.