28th October, 2010
The finalists for South Africa’s car of the year honours have been announced.
It was indeed a turn-around for Nigeria’s automotive industry recently when President Goodluck Jonathan opened a car plant said to be the biggest in Africa.
Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited (IVM), Nnewi is remarkable because this is the first time in the history of the industry in Nigeria that an auto plant is built by a single private investor, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, who stood tall as guests, from the President and Gov Peter Obi of Anambra State, to other invitees, poured encomiums on him for his foresight and courage.
Using expressions like “a day of happiness†to describe his mood, the President lauded the plant as one that is creating employment, giving boost to government’s efforts towards economic growth and development, as well as contributing to the drive to catch up with, and possibly overtake, other countries who gained independence the same period with Nigeria.
“I am indeed happy that Innoson is not just assembling parts that are imported from other countries. From all indications, it is only the engine that is imported. Apart from that, every other thing is manufactured in Nigeria,†he stated.
Chief Chukwuma told that the guests that the plant presently employs no fewer than 1,600 Nigerians and a few expatriates. The plastic-making sister company, Innoson Technical and Industrial Company Limited, in Emene, Enugu, has as many as 1,800 workers on its payroll.
“Mr President, with adequate encouragement, we can go beyond our present level of operation, and when we operate fully, the auto plant alone can employ as many as 3,200. We want to appreciate the example of the Enugu State Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime (who has placed an order for hundreds of buses and refuse disposal vans from Innoson) and pray that every tier of government from Federal to Local Government and government parastatals, should emulate this patriotic act,†he pleaded to President Jonathan.
Other requests by Chukwuma include soft loans with not more than five per cent interest “to enable us achieve our production target† and tax holidays for a period of 10 years “to enable the automotive plant stabilizeâ€.
He said: “Mr. President, we want to assure you that if these requests are granted, in two years’ time, such things like motor engine which we still import will be manufactured locallyâ€.
On display at the ceremony were 14, 26 and 35 seater- buses, double cabin pick up vans and SUVs.
Eight manufacturers are represented among the ten finalists, with Hyundai and VW boasting two contestants each. The list of finalists tally BMW’s 530d, Cirtoen’s DS3 1.6 THP Sport, Honda’s CR-Z Hybrid, the Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi GLS AWD, Opel Astra 1.4T and Ford’s Figo 1.4 Ambiente. VW’s two finalists are Polo 1.6 TDI and Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4×2, whilst Hyundai has both its iX35 and Sonata in the running.
A two-day test session at Gerotek’s world class evaluation facility outside Pretoria will enable jury members an opportunity to expose themselves to the finalists before casting a vote in favour of the winner. The results will be tabled and the winner announced on a yet to be confirmed date in March next year. Strong candidates for car of the year include VW’s Polo (currently world car of the year) and Ford’s high value Figo, whilst the Volkswagen Amarok makes a long overdue case for representation of the market – a key volume segment in the terms of outright vehicle sales. Interestingly the lists of candidates include three Korean cars – a state of affairs that would have been unfathomable a decade ago.
