Barely three months
after delivering the made-in-Nigeria Nissan range of vehicles, the Stallion
Group has delivered yet again on another promise — the manufacturing and
assemblying of Hyundai range of vehicles.
The chairman of the
Stallion Goup, Mr Sunil Vaswani, who broke the news yesterday promised that the
new vehicles “will be affordably priced,” in order to give Nigerians a break
from the strangle-hold of wholesale vehicle importers.
The made-in-Nigeria
Hyundai vehicles are being assembled at the Hyundai motor plant in Lagos.
Some of the Hyundai
passenger cars which are priced between NGN1.5m and NGN1.9m are i10, Grand,
Accent, Elantra and iX35, while in the truck and bus segments the 10-ton HD160,
seven-ton HD 120, five-ton HD78 and three-ton HD65 as well as 28+1-seater
Hyundai County bus and 30-seater Stallion County bus are now being supplied to
the market.
The West African
conglomerate, the Stallion Group-owned multi-vehicle assembly plant, had in
July announced the commencement of locally produced Hyundai range of vehicles
having inaugurated and rolled out the first set of made-in-Nigeria Nissan
automobiles in April. Hyundai Motors Nigeria Limited (HMNL) plant managing
director Tokunbo Aromolaran said the vehicles are certified to the world’s
highest automotive operating standard – ISO/TS 16949.
“ISO/TS 16949 is the
highest automotive operating standard in the world and its benefits include
improved quality processes at the facility along with streaming supply chains
both leading to a better overall product,” he explained.
The plant had
supported its ambitious growth plans by prioritising the need for a faster and
more efficient environment to facilitate concurrent product development and
support a rapidly changing requirement for a vehicle programme, Aromolaran
affirmed. He said: “Today we are glad to inform Nigerians that we have
delivered on our promise to make available affordably priced vehicles – thanks
to strong-willed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the indefatigable
supervisory roles of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment
headed by Dr Olusegun Aganga.”
The plant director
added that the first phase of delivery, which has already begun, establishes a
system of record for the complete vehicle programme which will gradually be
expanded to meet the ever-increasing demands for functional vehicles in
Nigeria.
“Prospective
customers can now walk into any of our dealership showrooms nationwide to buy
value-driven made-in-Nigeria Hyundai certified vehicles. Hyundai i10, Grand,
Xcent and Elantra are elegantly crafted functional cars with eye-popping
styling, good fuel economy, and fantastic driving experience with modest
starting price that is affordable to every desiring buyer,” Aromolaran assured.
Parvir Singh, group
managing director, Stallion Automobile Division, who received the
made-in-Nigeria Hyundai vehicles on behalf of the sale & marketing division
of Hyundai Motors Nigeria, described the achievement as a milestone in the
history of Nigeria’s automotive industry.
He later announced
starting price of NGN1.594m for the Hyundai i10 and NGN1.990 for the Grand,
urging customers to take advantage of the price and drive a certified
made-in-Nigeria Hyundai car.
Mr Singh oversees the
sales, marketing and dealer development arms of the Hyundai Motors Nigeria and
he is responsible for creative and imaginative marketing strategies to develop
new and existing customer sales and brand support.
Stallion Motors
dealers in Lagos, Warri, Asaba, Anambra and Abakaliki have also commended the
initiative, saying that this would expand customers’ options of below N2
million range of vehicles.
