BACK in the 70s and 80s, American and European car brands like Ford, Peugeot, and Volkswagen dominated the Nigerian auto scene until they were over time, except for luxury brands, pushed to the background by Japanese Brands.
Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan did this magic by making their cars compact, fuel efficient, rugged, affordable and cheaper to maintain.
But despite all these, European makers still kept a part of the car and sports utility vehicle segments,-the luxury class where car brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW Audi and Porsche still Stood tall.
It would be recalled that American cars in the past, though boasts high quality, were regarded as fuel guzzlers with less attention to design. They were large and big. These made people to go for other brands that offer better efficiency at less price and cheaper to maintain.
American and European brands are aware of this fact, they knew that their auto brands were losing shares to the Japanese and lately, the Koreans, hence, they quickly swung into action to reclaim their market share by designing and building cars that meet the demands of their customers, taking into consideration the qualities that endeared the Japanese cars to many.
Today, American car brands have returned as the models to beat with Ford, GM, Chrysler-Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler) turning out fantastic models in their various segments.
American auto makers are now focusing on Nigeria. Though GM assembled trucks in Nigeria in the past, auto maker like Ford which produces passenger cars, light trucks, SUVetc, never considered Nigeria as part of the places in the world where they can assemble cars.
Only in November 2015, Ford rolled out its first made-in Nigeria pick-up from the Coscharis plant in Lagos while GM Isuzu announced that it will roll out its truck from KonceptAutocentre plant in Lagos by 2016. It was gathered that Chrysler Corporation might toe the line of Ford and Isuzu.
Also, important to note is the fact that new Ford plant in Nigeria is the only Ford plant in Africa, besides South Africa. This goes a long way to say how interested the American auto makers are in Nigeria, thanks to the federal government’s auto policy which gives more recognition to manufacturers who assembles their models in the country.