By Femi Akinola
Nigeria’s automobile industry faces significant obstacles to growth as it is an import dependent industry due to its underdeveloped state. The country’s automotive industry is largely dependent on importation of new and used automobiles as well as spare parts.
In the past five years, the import oriented automobile industry in Nigeria have faces hurdled such as fluctuations in the naira to dollar exchange rate, the exchange rate at the port of clearing cargo and arising inflation hence, the need for examination of what the players in the industry could do to overcome these challenges and seize the opportunities the sector can offer.
Fuel efficiency is a top priority for all Nigerian car buyers, especially since petrol has become increasingly expensive for the underprivileged.
Nigerian car owners and users are now more cautious, particularly when it comes to the fuel consumption of the car they plan to purchase, since after the present government removed oil subsidy last year.
The pronouncement of oil subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu caused hike in the pump price of petrol in the country from below N200 to over N600 per litre, depending on the part of the country.
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Thus, Nigerians who wish to buy cars, be it new or fairly used ”Tokunbo”, preferred cars that use use less fuel or, preferred electric vehicles..
This means that fuel efficiency remain important consideration when Nigerians are making purchase of cars of their choice. Many who are riding Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and Multi Purpose Vehicles (MPVs) that are not fuel efficient in nature are now going for electric cars.
Checks showed that there is rise in demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Nigeria. An electric car or eletric vehicle is a passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric traction motor, using only energy stored in on-board batteries. This makes BEVs very low maintenance, which saves on costs.
As of today, there has been growing popularity of electric vehicles among Nigerians. The rate at which EVs are being adopted and used worldwide is rising to the point where countries are now giving infrastructure, such as public charging stations more thought in order to facilitate the use of electric vehicles.
Nigeria is not yet fit into the category of countries that provide charging station for electric car owners due to its level of development, But, it is part of countries that are showing interest in electric vehicles due to the global shift to environment sustainability.
In a recent publication, the Director of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) predicted that 30% of Nigerian passenger cars would be electric by 2025. This implies that more people will switch from driving petrol-powered cars to electric cars as the year goes on.
Several firms in the country are now developing electric vehicles. In February, this year, the first Nigeria’s locally assembled car, manufactured by Stallion Group was unveiled at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
