Nigerians don’t Patronise locally assembled vehicles, Nord CEO Declares, As they record low sales

Assembler of the enterprising local brand Nord Automobiles Limited has said the country has the capacity to assemble more vehicles but faults low patronage of locally assembled vehicles.

Chief Executive Officer, Nord Automobiles Limited, Oluwatobi Ajayi, made the call recently in Lagos when the company endorsed Funmi Ayinke, an engineer, astute businesswoman and social influencer as its brand ambassador.

Ajayi said: “Presently, we have an assembly plant that can produce five vehicles per day and with more investments, we will be able to increase that volume to 25 vehicles a day and by the period we increase it to two shifts, production capacity can reach 50 vehicles per day. So the question is not capacity, but rather a patronage of the locally assembled vehicles’’.

He declared that the most important thing is the demand for these vehicles and once this is assured with an increase in the volume of units locally assembled, more Nigerians will be employed and this will by extension boost the economy.

Besides, the presentation of a Nord Tank Pick-up which was preceded by the signing of a contract agreement was executed in Lekki, Lagos between the new brand ambassador and the Nord team CEO.

Fielding questions on what kind of after-sales service back-up will Nord be rendering to the brand ambassador while the contract lasts, Ajayi said the vehicle comes with an after-sales plan for as long as the contract lasts and each party seems to be meeting expected obligations.

Expressing her delight over her choice as a brand ambassador, Ayinke said that it is not just the crowd that matters, adding that this is the fundamental mistake Nigerian influencers make.

But who are the crowd, who are the followers? I mean, which class do you belong to and I will say to them that Fumi Ayinke has the class that can afford Nord automobiles and I am proud to be the brand ambassador,” she said.

Throwing more light on the latest marriage of convenience between the duo, the managing director of the company said that the purpose of using the vehicle is to ensure that the vehicle is always on the road.

“So the after the sale of this vehicle is our headache basically, and I’d like to use this opportunity to state that we are going to start a service campaign, which is key to the business that we do; and which is to satisfy our teeming customers.

“We know that we do excellent work, and we already have a sound technical team, but the issue is that we need to be a lot more popular. Because popularity is what drives sales in this industry, and more importantly, we have always had the capacity.

“Financially, we have some of the biggest backings in our business ranging from financials to the shareholders, to everybody and as a result of this; we can meet the market demand. All that Nord as an automobile company needed is just somebody like her to take us out there to show Nigerians what they have been missing in terms of good product quality,” he said.