Made-In-Nigeria Stallion-Nissan Vehicles Debut

West African con­glomerate, Stal­lion Group,  suc­cessfully rolled out its first Nissan-branded vehicle from its Lagos assembly plant in a landmark de­velopment pursuant to Nigeria’s recent policy an­nouncement. Stallion is Nis­san’s exclusive distributor in Nigeria and has commis­sioned its automotive assem­bly facility to international standards.

Announcing the inaugural rollout of a gleaming black Nissan Patrol vehicle from the plant, Stallion Group’s Chair­man, Sunil Vaswani, said: “In October 2013, upon the an­nouncement of Federal Gov­ernment’s new auto policy, Nissan and Stallion had com­mitted to commencing assem­bly by April this year. We are immensely pleased to mark our success in meeting this targeted timeframe.”

Commenting on the part­nership, Vaswani said: “Our long-term partnership with Nissan will continue to flour­ish, resulting in expansion of our capacities and product range. Several other upcom­ing models, including the Almera (Sunny) and pick-up will shortly be made available to our valued customers in Ni­geria. The commencement of assembly will also generate significant employment op­portunities for Nigerians and establishment of several ancil­liary industries.”

He added: “We believe that this is a historic moment in Nigeria’s progress towards creating and fostering local industries. It will result in Ni­geria becoming the region’s leader in automotive indus­try”.

Takashi Hata, Nissan Se­nior Vice President and Chair­man for the Africa, Middle East and India region said: “For Nissan, Africa is our stra­tegic growth driver. Demand for cars is growing quickly in African markets. By acting quickly to begin production in Nigeria we are securing for ourselves first-mover advan­tage.”

Nissan South Africa Man­aging Director, Mike Whit­field, who also heads Nissan’s sub-Sahara Africa region, is delighted with the success­ful launch of the first Patrol. “Nissan was a pioneer in the foundation of the car industry in South Africa. Now we are once again at the forefront of manufacturing in Africa, this time in Nigeria where we see huge potential.”

Source:sunnewsonline.com