Despite continuing fears about Ebola in the region, Volkswagen and
Stallion Group of Dubai reaffirmed their plans to begin building cars in
Nigeria sometime next year. The move would mark the German automaker’
second venture on the continent, in addition to its three manufacturing
facilities in South Africa. The first is located in Uitenhage (outside
Port Elizabeth),
where it makes the Polo small car, while the MAN
commercial-vehicle unit has production locations in Olifantsfontain
(near Johannesburg), and Pinetown, (outside Durban).
In the meantime PSA/Peugeot-Citroen will soon begin assembling
Peugeot 301 sedans in Nigeria in small quantities of semiknockdown kits
at a factory in Kaduna operated by PAN Nigeria Ltd. Additional models,
such as the Peugeot 308 compact and 508 may also be made there at a
later date. In the meantime, the first Nissan Patrol SUV rolled off the
line at a plant in Lagos this past April. Renault-Nissan, has since
added production of the Almera sedan and NP300 pickup there in
conjunction with Stallion Group as well.
According to Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, “ Nissan wants to make
Nigeria a significant manufacturing hub in Africa and, as the
first-mover in Nigeria, we are positioned for the long-term growth of
this market and across the broader continent.”
Nigeria is not only the most populated nation in Africa, with
approximately 170 million people, it also has the biggest economy there.
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