Have
you noticed an increase in the number of a particular set of cars, SUVs &
Jeeps on Nigerian roads? Of course cars like Toyota, Honda Mercedes Benz, are
all commonplace. But there is a new set of made-in-Nigeria cars that are fast
competing.
Today,
many Nigerians are now proud owners of luxurious cars produced and marketed
right here in the country. Innoson Motors started amid doubt,
unbelief and huge challenges of inconsistent power supply, high cost of
production as well as stiff competition from well-established brands. Despite
all these challenges, the company has thrived so well and is waxing stronger by
the day.
Today,
Innoson produces SUVs, Salon Cars, Trucks, Luxury Cars, Buses, Mini-Buses as
well Tricycles.
DAMILARE SALAMI (08155134152) takes a look at what has
worked for the INNOSON MOTORS Brand and how well it has fared in the last
couple of years of its existence.
ABOUT
INNOSON VEHICLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY (IVM)
Innoson
Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited. (Commonly shortened to/ IVM) is a
Nigerian automobile manufacturer headquartered in/Nnewi/Anambra State and was
founded by Chief/Innocent Chukwuma Nwala in 2007. Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing
is regarded as the largest indigenous automobile manufacturing firm and
produces 70% of the car parts locally, while the rest is sourced from Japan,
China, and Germany.
Before
Innoson vehicles was commissioned in 2010, over 30,000 brand new cars sold in
Nigeria were all imported. At the time, there was no functional vehicle
manufacturing or assembly plant in Nigeria producing these cars. Yet, out of
guts, faith and hope, Innocent Chukwuma decided to venture into vehicle
manufacturing, becoming the first to produce a made-in-Nigeria vehicle that
will be named Innoson.
This
is not the first time Innoson has decided to braze the trail by producing a
made-in-Nigeria automotive product. In 2000, Innoson decided to start the
manufacturing and assembly of the Innoson Brand of motorcycles and made a huge
success out of it. Innoson Nig Ltd became the first indigenous and biggest
assembler and manufacturer of motorcycles.
Within
two years of establishing Innoson Vehicles, the then Governor of Anambra State,
Mr Peter Obi ordered 1000 units of Innoson Vehicles which include, Pick
Ups, Buses and SUV’s. The show of faith by Mr Peter Obi was the trigger Innoson
needed to show the durability and capacity of the made-in-Nigeria vehicle.
Today, the vehicles bought under the administration of Mr Peter Obi are still
being used by some traditional rulers, schools as well as security
agencies proving the durability strength of Innoson vehicles.
IVM
has been improving steadily on the quality of its vehicles by ensuring it gets
feedback from the users of Innoson Vehicles to know their views on their IVM
experience and with these feedbacks, it seeks better ways to improve the
tastes and preferences of our customers to suit the environment.
THE
BATTLE IN THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
Before
now, Toyota, Honda, Benz and Peugeot cars have been ruling Nigeria. As a matter
of fact, Peugeot used to be the official Nigerian government car brand before
Toyota took over. Nigeria being a densely populated nation and a highly
consuming one at that was invaded by foreign automobile manufacturers. There was
a time these foreign companies had assembling plants in the nation because of
huge sales but many of them have folded up. IVM needed a lot of guts to
challenge these companies and it is gradually paying off. Of course, Rome
wasn’t built in a day, IVM has been strategically positioning itself in such a
way that with the right support from appropriate quarters, it will soon take
over the market completely.
ANAMBRA
STATE GOVERNMENT ALREADY KEYED IN
One
of the best ways for IVM to be accepted is by patronage from both the federal and
state governments. The government has been preaching buying and using Nigerian
products but it has not practiced what it is preaching to the citizens. If the
Federal Government, all state governments and members of the National Assembly
announce IVM as its official carmaker instead of Toyota, the brand would
become easily visible because government parastatals are ready markets that
could lift any brand, especially in the automobile market.
As
we speak, only newly sworn-in Governor of Anambra State, Charles Soludo, has
announced the use of the Innoson vehicle as its official car. Others need to do the same to lift the Nigerian brand.
PRODUCING
FOR 5 AFRICAN COUNTRIES
The
Head, Corporate Communications, Innoson Group, Mr Cornel Osigwe, expressed
excitement over Governor Charles Soludo’s endorsement of the Innoson vehicle as the
official vehicle for Anambra State, which shows the durability and capacity of
the made-in-Nigeria vehicle.
Osigwe
said, “Governor Soludo is the first governor to use Innoson vehicles as
official vehicle and we are hopeful that such endorsement will increase
patronage from other state governments, corporate organisations and other
well-meaning Nigerians.
“Presently,
IVM is producing vehicles for about five countries in Africa including Sierra
Leone, Mali, Congo, and Côte d’Ivoire.’
INNOSON
TO PRODUCE 60,000 VEHICLES ANNUALLY
Osigwe
said that the group will increase its vehicle manufacturing capacity from
10,000 vehicles annually to 60,000 vehicles after migrating from a manual production plant to a fully automated production plant.
He
said, “The manual production plant can produce about 10,000
vehicles annually but after the migration to a fully automated
production plant, it will have the capacity to produce about 60,000 annually.’’
PARTNERSHIP
WITH BBNAIJA DID SOME MAGIC
Let’s
be the first to tell you that a lot of Nigerian youths fell in love with the
IVM brand after sponsoring the 2021 Big Brother Naija Show and Gulder Ultimate
Search.
The
Big Brother Naija Shine Ya Eye housemates participated in a challenge organised
by Innoson Vehicle Manufacturers and Pere Egbi emerged as the winner of the
task. As the winner, Pere received a brand new car, the IVM CARIS 2021 model,
courtesy of Innoson.
When
Brands & Products hit the street to enquire, many Nigerian youths revealed
that they fell in love with the brand for having watched how BBNaija housemates
struggled to win the Innoson car during the show.
INNOSON’S
UNIQUE SELLING POINTS
IVM
is truly a Nigerian brand that understands the needs of many automobile users
across the length and breadth of the country. The brand came into the
automobile business with the understanding of what Nigerians really wanted and
provided such. Some of the key features of IVM products that placed them above
other competitors are;
RUGGED
PERFORMANCE
Innoson
motors are automobiles made for African roads. They are rugged by nature. Some
Nigerian users of Innoson Motors revealed to Brands & Products that one of
the reasons they went for Innoson was because of the understanding that these
vehicles are made rugged for Nigerian roads. Daniel Ogbolor a user of Innoson
Motors said.
FUEL
ECONOMY
No
Nigerian wants a fuel-consuming vehicle. This is because of the current harsh
economic realities Nigerians are being faced with. Many Nigerians prefer cars
that consume less fuel because it can serve as a way of reducing expenses and
it is a known fact that the fuel consumed is nothing compared to the distance
you cover while driving an Innoson automobile.
LOW
CHANCES OF OVERHEATING
An
automobile mechanic who plies his trade at Ladipo, Lagos, Emeka Chukwueze spoke
to Brands & Products about IVM products, particularly with regards to
overheating and he had this to say about Innoson Products… “Innoson vehicles
are specially manufactured to reduce their chances of overheating despite the
hot African weather, they have devised a cooling technology that helps their
vehicles to function optimally even during the dry season. The fact that they
understand the Nigerian weather is a factor that has worked so well for them.”
AVAILABLE
SPARE PARTS
Unlike
some other brands that don’t have their spare parts readily available, IVM
produces here in Nigeria and has all its car parts available nationwide
through its network of sub-dealers. Nigerians don’t have to sweat or bother
when the need to replace any part of their cars arises. They are readily
available with dealers at popular automobile shops across the country. The
prices of these parts are not affected by forex so they don’t fluctuate like
other imported brands.
Car
Loans
Perhaps
a lot of people are not aware, Innoson Motors has partnered with some Nigerian
banks to ensure that their prospective customers have access to car loans. It
simply means that customers can get any IVM product of their choice and pay in
instalments.
INNOSON
TRICYCLE LANDS MARKET
Innoson
is just about producing for the top class; it is about producing for every
class in Nigeria. It recently rolled out its tricycle automobile product line,
otherwise known as Keke or Marwa, to cater for the transportation need of the lower
class of the Nigerian population.
IVM
has set the price of its latest tricycles, otherwise known as Keke or Marwa at
N950,000 per unit, which the few units manufactured were sold. This we got from
a reliable source. Although this price is not the final price yet as the company
is yet to roll out the tricycle in commercial quantity into the market, Innoson
Keke will crash the prices of Keke in Nigeria. Imported Keke is currently sold
between N1.2 million to N1.35 million.
0 Comments