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Dana Motors, a leading auto company and sole dealership for Kia and DFM brands in Nigeria joined other local assemblers , Monday, in Abuja, the nation’s capital, to showcase their locally-assembled brands.
The event was a parade of Assembled-in-Nigeria vehicles organised by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) in Abuja. At the show which preceded this year’s Argungu Motor Rally, which opened, Wednesday in Argungu, Kebbi State, the all-new 2020 Kia and DFM assembled -in-Nigeria models were proudly displayed.
The event aimed at demonstrating the feats recorded by the country’s auto policy in encouraging locally-assembled vehicles in the past years, attracted a lot of stakeholders and top government officials who took a close look at the Kia and DFM models on display.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, while speaking at the event, stated that “the vehicles and brands that were being unveiled by the government was a testament to the zeal and commitment of the automotive industrial sector to government’s efforts towards diversification and development of the non-oil sector of the economy…”
According to the Minister, “The role of the NADDC in reviving and sustaining the automotive sector has greatly helped in stimulating growth and development in the Nigerian automotive industry.”
Also commenting on the gains of the auto policy, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and investment, Amb. Mariam Katagum, charged the auto companies to do more in the area of local content and have faith in the Federal Government’s commitment to economic diversification.
Keying into the Federal government’s economic diversification, Dana Motors Limited has been at the vanguard of the production of locally produced best-in-class vehicles in Nigeria. Having established a multi-billion Naira state of the art assembly plant in Lagos, the auto company has produced technologically advanced vehicles for both the Kia and DFM brands.
Reinforcing the company’s unwavering commitment to the industrialisation of the Nigerian economy, Dana Motors Limited has invested heavily in the assembly plant. Its state-of-the-art technologies are arguably at par with any renowned and international plant in the world. The plant prides itself on the production of over 13 models and their respective trims cutting across two multinational brands [Kia and DFM] in the country with thousands of units rolled out since its launch in April 2014.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General, NADDC, Jelani Aliyu, said Nigerians spent over $8 billion on vehicle importation yearly. This, he said, was hurting the local automotive industry that was established in 2013. He said the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) established about six years ago has attracted about $1 billion into the Nigerian economy despite Nigerians’ preference for imported cars.
Jelani further remarked that, so far, about one billion dollars had been invested by the auto companies whose cars were being unveiled while 4,700 people were directly employed in the sector. He, however, lamented the lack of patronage of the locally produced cars, saying it’s hurting the growth of the industry.
Having ticked all the boxes for technologically advanced cars – durability, style, luxury and performance capabilities – Kia and DFM vehicles have over the years remained the preferred options for car owners and Dana Motors has continued to edged others with cost-effective and affordable cars which are the hallmark of the auto policy.
To make the cars affordable to all, Jelani added that NADDC had set aside five billion naira towards a single-digit vehicle finance scheme and was talking with banks such as Zenith, Wema and Jaiz to provide the financing for vehicles assembled in Nigeria .
