The Stallion Group, the parent company of Hyundai Motors Nigeria, has directed the immediate sale of its locally assembled 1.1-litre engine Hyundai i10 car at N1.5m, and the 1.2-litre engine Hyundai Grand at N1.9m.
The Hyundai i10, under the old regime of importation, was being sold at N1.9m. The Grand is a new vehicle, but most vehicles in its segment are going for between N2.2m and N2.7m.
The drop in prices of locally assembled vehicles is, however, contrary to the initial fear that the new auto policy will lead to a sharp rise in the cost of imported new and used vehicles.
Many car dealers had projected about 60 per cent increase in the prices of such vehicles following the introduction of the new auto policy in September last year.
As part of the new policy aimed at encouraging local manufacturing of vehicles, the import duty on new and used cars was increased from 22 per cent to 70 per cent; while a zero per cent duty was placed on imported Completely Knocked Down (vehicles).
Apart from the two Hyundai models, the Stallion Group gave other vehicles locally produced as the Elantra and iX35 sport utility vehicle.
In the truck and bus categories are 10-tonne HD160; seven-tonne HD120; five-tonne HD78, three-tonne HD65, 28+1-seater Hyundai County and 30-seater Stallion County.
Although no prices were announced for the vehicles, the Chairman of the Stallion Group, Mr. Sunil Vaswani, said in a statement on Sunday that the new vehicles "will be affordably priced," in order to give Nigerians a break from the stranglehold of wholesale vehicle importers.
He added that the Hyundai vehicles were being assembled at its plant in Lagos.
The Group Managing Director, Sale, Marketing and Dealer Development, Hyundai Motors Nigeria, Mr. Parvir Singh, described the accomplishment as a milestone in the history of the country's evolving automotive industry.
This is coming barely three months after the auto group, owners of a multivehicle plant, had rolled out its made-in-Nigeria Nissan Patrol and presented the vehicle to President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.
The Director-General, National Automotive Council, Mr. Aminu Jalal, had told our correspondent that no fewer than 12 auto firms would begin to assemble vehicles in the country by the end of the year.
He also declared that the vehicles being assembled would be affordable, adding that they could be as low as N1.5m.
According to him, by the time the several auto assembly plants roll out their products, the stiff competition that will follow will lead to reduction in prices compared to what is currently being experienced in the telecoms sector.
Another Korean automaker, Kia, has said it will to roll out its first set of vehicles from its Nigerian plant in September this year.
The automaker's Africa and Middle East Manager, Mr. Homer Kim, stated this in Lagos recently while inaugurating a Kia ultramodern showroom.
The Kia Motor Corporation had in February this year signed an agreement with Dana Motors Limited, its representative in Nigeria, to undertake a long-term investment in assets development, including the provision of technical knowhow and setting up a machinery for the local plant.
Kim said the plant would immediately begin to assemble select Kia models such as Rio, Cerato and Optima, which are in the A, B and C segments, and commence full-scale production of the entire Kia range next year.
Recently, Pan Nigeria revived its moribund assembly plant in the country with the inauguration of Peugeot 301 production line in its Kaduna factory.
The Managing Director, Pan Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, said the new plant had been "fitted to handle multiple Original Equipment Manufacturer brand assembly, (and) when operational, we will require additional 250 workers at the SKD level, and over 1,000 workers when we migrate to the CKD."
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