Vehicle importation drops to 350 units in Q1 from 3500

Vehicle importation and sale in Nigeria is hitting a record low as high import rate and scarcity of foreign exchange dragged total import of new vehicles to 350 units in the first quarter of 2017, Managing Director, Toyota Nigeria Limited, Kunle Adeojo said in Lagos yesterday.

Speaking at a press briefing organised by the company, Ade-Ojo said the scarcity of foreign exchange, and the devaluation in naira and the high interest rate coupled with the economic shortfall hiked prices of vehicles and crippled buying power of many buyers.

Ade ojo, who disclosed that 3500 units of vehicles were imported in the first quarter of 2016, estimated that the company paid noting less N15 million duty to import a single vehicle, particularly the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Even with recent efforts made by the government to tackle the forex challenge, Adeojo insisted that the sector has not seen positive result, stressing that vehicles are being overvalued by custom official at port of entry.

Disclosing that Toyota sold about 7,000 cars in 2015 and about 4,000 vehicles in 2016 furthering its share from 24 per cent in 2015 to about 26 per cent in 2016, he said total retail market in the country stood at 32, 000 2015 and fell to about 18, 000 by the end of 2016.

Adeojo added that vehicle import for 2015 was at 18, 000 but came down to 7, 000 by the end of 2016.
Despite the challenges in the market, the company has led the sector, importing 43 per cent of the vehicles in 2015 and in 2016 has share of 38 per cent.

He forecast that the retail market may not record more than 10, 000 vehicles in 2017, adding that total sales of vehicle for the first quarter of 2017 stood at about 2,000 units when compared to 5,500 units last year.

He said the company had prioritised after-sales and concentrated on key segments to maintain its lead in the market.Disclosing that the company has unveiled a new Toyota Coaster, Adeojo said the firm gained strenght in the commercial segment, when compared to 0thers.