Nigeria Is The Biggest Rolls Royce Market in Africa

It’s no news that there are several numbers of Rolls-Royce owners in Nigeria. This vehicle is mostly found in the possession of top business owners, top officials, and Nigerian celebrities who own the Rolls Royce. But, it almost didn’t come to the realization that Nigeria houses the largest number of Rolls-Royce cars in the entirety of Africa. 

How true is that?

An article published by Business Day, confirms this point stating: “Nigeria is the biggest market for Rolls Royce in Africa with an estimated 230 units on the roads according to recent findings. The figure keeps growing by the day so much so that, not even the high price tag can hinder ownership of the top-notch luxury marquee by the anointed few.”

The article was published a while back when the base trim of a Rolls-Royce sold for about N100,000,000 in Nigeria. Today, the starting price of Rolls-Royce vehicles in Nigeria is about N150,000,000 upwards. 

One predominant thing about the Rolls-Royce is that it’s a vehicle for the ultra-wealthy, and the article highlights this by describing one of the high-rise areas of Lagos (Royal Cafe located on the Banana Island, Ikoyi), where a series of this vehicle was spotted. 

Furthering describing the Rolls-Royce, the article highlights: “The Rolls Royce brand is so cherished that, it is not everybody’s car. Those who buy Rolls Royce don’t have time for price negotiation and these are people who walk into the showroom and have their choice of car specked-up to their tastes in terms of drive-train, choice of colours inside and outside; whatever they want.

“Rolls Royce is made exclusively for high-profile individuals who have worked successfully over the years and want to go out of their way to make life very pleasurable for themselves. Target owners of the Rolls Royce brand are not disclosed to the general public as a result of certain agreement that borders on confidentiality between the dealership and the buyer.

For a Rolls Royce customer who wants to enjoy the drive, he will drive the Wraith, for the customer who wants to drive his car to work on a daily basis, he will drive a Ghost and for that customer who wants to be chauffeur-driven and appear stately at events, the Phantom is the choice car.

For instance, the foot mat and the seat materials are products of animal skin processed to give the Rolls Royce brand a unique outlook. For instance, it requires the skin of 12 bulls to produce the leather in a Phantom, for the Ghost and Wraith, nine bulls respectively are the numbers required.

It requires layers and layers of processed leather to get superior and superb quality leather. On average, it takes four to six months to customize a Rolls Royce, Phantom, Ghost and Wraith depending on the level of personal detailing that the customer requires.”

Speaking to Tolu Badamosi, brand manager, of Rolls Royce Motor Cars in Nigeria, the Rolls-Royce boss explained to the publication that there is usually a timeline to confirm the features a customer needs in his car such as the rear theatre entertainment, fridges, rear and side curtains and so on. It gets to a point where the dealership through the manufacturers cannot do anything about the car anymore.

He tells Business Day: “Rolls Royce Motor Car freaks are so pampered that, when we get their orders as to how you want your going into production would look like, we give you up to two to three weeks to sit with madam to think of how you want your car to look like and if there is will be any changes to be effected.’’ 

While car maintenance has been one of the major issues most Nigerians have when it comes to buying luxury vehicles, the article highlighted that the Rolls Royce Motor Cars outlet in Nigeria can now be maintained by a team of expatriates from Spain and Greece managing the aftersales service department. Considering this article was published over eight years ago, it means that repair outlets for Rolls-Royce cars in Nigeria have become ubiquitous.