Auto industry begging a tow By Theodor Opara Yesterday the report reflected fears of stakeholders in the automobile sector that the auto policy might fail again and spell doom for the nation’s transportation industry. The focus today is on the nightmare posed by lack of power supply to the manufacturing sector KUNLE Ade Ojo, boss of Toyota Nigeria Ltd, predicted that the nation might not attain 9000 vehicles at the end of the year given the situation of things in the sector. HE blamed the slow pace of business on the factors already listed by Dr. Oigiagbe. According to him, even with the recent efforts made by the government to tackle the forex challenge, the sector has seen no positive results as even the imported vehicles were being over valued by Customs officials. Tokunbo (used) vehicles at the Apapa port…buyers nowhere in sight He disclosed that contrary to the belief that only 70 per cent duty is paid on automobiles, “if we add other things we pay like VAT and other taxes, you will discover that the vehicle importer pays as much as 85 per cent duty on one car. Speaking with VanguardINSIGHT on the issue, Dr. Oscar Odibo, an automobile marketing communication specialist and a senior lecturer, Covenant University, Ogun State said: “Honestly we are stagnant simply because there was much hope when this government said they were going to continue with the policy and all the segment of the auto industry started looking forward to something to happen. “Unfortunately, we are losing time, the kind of technology that is being used in the sector today is too advanced that we will find it difficult to catch up; and except something is done, we might miss out. If the government can shake itself up and change some things, we will have our; hope renewed. We are living on hope that things might change. Auto companies are preparing their budget for next year but the government budget has not been passed. How can they be sure what is coming their way? “Automobile business in Nigeria is dependent on government. In other parts of the world, government only intervenes when there are problems in the auto industry. Some examples where government had intervened in the auto industry included the United States(Ford, Chrysler and GM) the United Kingdom (Rolls Royce), Germany (Mercedes Benz)and Japan (Toyota). “Government should intervene to ensure that all that is required are provided like power supply, good roads, (access must be very easy and access to the port must be well taking care of) and friendly tax regime. You cannot tax an industry that the people will benefit from. When you do this the cost of the product will be very high and will affect transportation which would affect other sectors. Lack of power supply “If you have a policy, you are close to having a law. By the time you make it realistic it becomes a law. You must make it a law so that it would be legally binding for government and players to play their roles. The law opens everybody’s eyes to the role they are supposed to play. “The appointment of a new Director General from General Motors America would help. He knows how things are done, and not going to be involved in any short cut or bribe.” Mr. Ifeanyi Agwu, Managing Director of BKG Exhibitions, has this to say on how to make the policy and the sector work: “My direction would have been different. We should start with auto parts and graduate into assembly. “If each company in Nigeria gets to a certain percentage of local availability of its parts in the country, we will derive so much as an organisation and country. So we have to move into the parts manufacturing first before assembly”. He submitted that capital investment is not as huge as moving into assembling, pointing out that marketing for the spare parts would be for both Nigeria and global markets. He further noted thus: “It will yield far more foreign exchange as spare parts can easily be sold both locally and internationally than assembled vehicles, and it will create more employment because of the number of companies that will spring up manufacturing different autoparts. The post Auto industry begging a tow appeared first on Vanguard News. from Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2trjJOW via Naijapounds