FG to Inject N300bn Into Auto Industry

• FG to Inject N300bn Into Auto Industry

As part of measures to stimulate growth in the automotive industry, the Federal Government has planned to inject N300 billion into vehicle assembly plants.

The support fund initiated to finance vehicle production has risen to N11 billion.

The Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council, Jelani Aliyu, who gave the indication at a forum in Lagos, said the funds would “support assembly operations at the Completely Knocked Down level and encourage local content development.”

According to the Director-General, the auto industry activities were mostly characterised by the Semi-knocked Down operations with low job creation.

Asked about the 2013-2020 Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan under the current regime at a capacity building workshop for motoring journalists;

He said the Federal Government was concerned about the slow development in the industry, even though the government had given 35 automobile firms manufacturing status and many of them have started assembly operations, growth in the industry remained weak.

This was five years after the FG started the implementation of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan, which was instituted to stimulate local production and purchase of new cars in the nation.

However, Aliyu also spoke on the high costs of the vehicles assembled locally, saying, “All assemblers have been directed to include a low-cost vehicle in the models they roll out. This is for ease of ownership by Nigerians. So far, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan and others have all assembled brand-new low-cost vehicles.”