Nissan to roll out locally made SUV in April

The Chief Executive Officer of Nissan Motors, Mr Carlos Ghosn, has said that the company will roll-out the first made in Nigeria 4 X 4 Utility SUV in April.

Ghosn said this at a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Davos, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF).

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, from Davos said Ghosn informed Jonathan of the company’s plan at the meeting.

The Nissan CEO according to Abati, said the company will use the old Volkswagen Assembly plant owned by its partners as the production line for the SUV production.

He said Ghosn commended the new Automotive Policy of the Federal Government and assured that the company would soon establish its own vehicle production plants with annual capacity of three million cars.

“Mr Ghosn applauded the Federal Government’s new automotive policy, saying that it would encourage the inflow of investments and technical expertise to boost domestic vehicle production.

“Mr Ghosn said that it was possible to produce two to three million cars in Nigeria annually with the consequent creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

“He told the president that Nissan intends to increase its investment in Nigeria and establish its own vehicle production plants in the country,’’ Abati said.

Abati said the automobile industry specifically expressed interest in producing popular cars, totally adapted to the needs of Nigerians.

He said the company also planned to bring its global suppliers to make vehicle components in the country.

Abati said that the president assured the Nissan CEO that his administration was fully committed to rapidly developing Nigeria’s automobile industry.

The president, according to Abati, said that the Federal Government would diligently implement the country’s new national automotive policy.

“President Jonathan said that a key objective of the new policy was to make new cars affordable to more Nigerians and reduce the preponderance of second hand cars on our roads,” he said.

Abati said Jonathan noted that all investors in local automobile production in the country would have a huge ready market for their products.

The president said that the automobile industry in Nigeria had a huge potential for growth because the market was not just Nigeria, but the entire West African region. (NAN