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Lagos-based multiple vehicle assembly plant, VON Automobiles Nigeria Limited, weekend said that its ultimate goal is to assemble at least 1,000 units of vehicles every month.
The disclosure came as the company also advised the Federal Government to execute the National Automotive Policy to its letters in order to rapidly influence capacity utilisation and production of larger volume of passenger cars and commercial vehicles at the various vehicle manufacturing plants in the country.
Managing Director of the company, Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran, made the call while welcoming members of the Senate Committee on Import Waivers, Concession and Grants who were on oversight inspection visit to the assembly plant in Lagos.
While disclosing that the factory had attained 30 percent local content in bus production since it began operations in 2012, Aromolaran told the visiting lawmakers that prices of locally-assembled vehicles can only become competitive when policy and environment are right to justify the economics of car production.
“It is my ultimate goal to produce at least 1,000 units of vehicles monthly so as to bring down unit prices of locally assembled vehicles,” Aromolaran said. He however lamented that there is yet no volume to operate at optimal capacity.
He particularly craved the indulgence of the legislators to enact policy that would restrict importation of used vehicles into the country to forestall emission consequences of old vehicles on the environment and intimidating breakdowns in vehicular traffic.
According to Aromolaran, “It is imperative for government to introduce proficient road worthiness act and vehicle emission standard to forestall wanton importation of unserviceable vehicles into the country.
“If only you would help us to control tokunbo cars, we can produce a whole lot of these small cars at very low prices. And as you are aware, tokunbo vehicles pollute the environment and cause gratuitous breakdowns on the roads,” he said.
Warning that it was time Nigeria ceased to create jobs in foreign countries where fully-built up vehicles are made, the VON managing director said: “We are not going to develop our local industries and our children won’t get to work if adequate measures aren’t implemented to raise the bar for local production.
“VON Automobiles can create substantial direct and indirect employment if the environment is right, as all the safety materials we use in buses assembled at our factory are sourced locally. Some of these items include windshield, window frames, sealants and labour.
“We started operations in 2012 before the auto policy was inaugurated and we have since then been determined to integrate backwards. A lot of our infrastructure are locally fabricated and this is because we are an import substitution industry.
“Instead of keeping people in Japan working, let’s kick-start our factories here, we will never get there if we don’t start.”
Aromolaran listed some of the existing challenges confronting vehicle assembly plants in the country to include inaccessibility to foreign exchange, delay in the implementation of the auto policy, unavailability of consumer credit scheme and lacklustre government patronage.
He however advocated a total reversal of these anomalies if the general public, including the customers, must benefit immensely from vehicles assembled in the country.
On the Senate delegation that was taken round the VON Automobile facility and vehicle warehouses were the Chairman, Senate Committee on Import Waivers, Concession and Grants, Senator Mohammed Aliero ; Senator Gershom Bassey (member); Mr. Victor Efiong, clerk of the Committee and Mr. Felix Okonti, a consultant.
VON Automobiles assembles various brands of vehicles including Hyundai passenger cars and commercial vehicles; Volkswagen cars, Chinese range of cars, buses and trucks; AshokLeyland buses and Stallion badge 7-ton military troop carriers.
