The Chief Executive Officer of any company is responsible for maximizing the value of the company. That’s exactly the role every CEO of all automobile manufacturing companies across the globe performs. They are aware of the single affair that goes on within the company, and their goal is to always ensure the company achieves success and its quarterly and early targets.
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In this article, we bring to you some of the top CEOs in charge of most vehicle brands we find in Nigeria today. They are:
Top Five CEOs of Most Car Brands in Nigeria
Here are the top five CEOs of car brands available for purchase in Nigeria today:
- Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma (CEO of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Nigeria)
Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma is a Nigerian businessman and an Entrepreneur. He is the Chairman of Innoson Group of Companies, and the man behind Africa’s first automobile brand, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing. Innocent Chukwuma was born on 1st October 1961 in Uru-Umdim, Nnewi, Anambra State.
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Innocent Chukwuma began his private company as a dealer in motorcycle spare parts. He has since developed into a powerhouse in the automobile-producing area in Nigeria. He did his Primary education and Secondary school education in Uru-Umudim in Nnewi. He finished in 1978, and then applied to study Engineering but was not selected because he did not meet the cut-off mark required for his Engineering course.
He began assisting his elder brother in his Chemistry (pharmacy). It was here he came up with the idea of selling motorcycle spare parts. He went ahead to do a 6-month apprenticeship with Chief Romanus Eze Onwuka and later liberated to start his own motorcycle spare parts shop after working for some time in his brother’s.
Over time, he moved from selling motorcycle car parts, and in 2009, he launched his first produced vehicle. Today, IVM has existed for 13 years and continues to thrive in the Nigerian automobile scene despite competition with foreign vehicles.
- Oluwatobi Joshua Ajayi (CEO of Nord Motors Nigeria)
Oluwatobi Ajayi is the founder and CEO of Nord Motors Nigeria. He is the first child of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ajayi, born in 1988 and hails from Abeokuta in Ogun State. He completed his Primary and Secondary Education at the Nigerian Navy School. After completing his secondary education, he moved over to Olabisi Onabanjo University, where he studied Soil Science and Farm Mechanization between 2004 and 2010.
His journey into the automobile industry started immediately after he completed his first degree in Soil Science and was posted to complete his one-year mandatory NYSC program at Mercedes Benz Nigeria. Mercedes Benz Nigeria retained him as a staff after NYSC and placed him in the Mercedes Benz Van division, where he became responsible for and oversaw the Nigerian branch division. During his time at Mercedes, he recorded hundreds of units of car sales and won the trust of the firm’s staff.
In 2014, he got the opportunity to start up as an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, and he got approved to start sales with Jet Van. However, he got a new idea to expand the shores of his business skills, leading him to start his automobile brand in Nigeria (Nord Motors). The word NORD means upward movement, positivity, north, and good feeling. Oluwatobi Ajayi noted that the name was already formed before he knew it was an amazing name.
Despite being roughly 10 years in the business, Nord Motors has continued to grow under the leadership and direction of Oluwatobi Ajayi. Recently, the brand launched two SUVs to its growing lineup, as the CEO continues growing awareness on why Nigerian-made vehicles should be prioritized in Nigeria.
- Kunle Ade-Ojo (Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria Limited)
If not for anything, Toyota has earned serious bragging rights in Nigeria, and it’s almost easy to mistake that it’s not a Nigerian brand. However, Toyota reigns supreme in Nigeria, even outselling Nigerian auto brands daily.
However, Toyota has a board in Nigeria that has Kunle Ade-Ojo as the managing director, and the son of Chief Sir Michael Ade-Ojo, the Chairman of Toyota Nigeria Limited. Kunle is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Reading and got his M.Sc in Automotive Product Engineering from Cranfield University, both in the United Kingdom.
He has worked extensively in different operational departments while at Toyota Motor Sales, USA. On returning to Nigeria, he became the brand’s Business and Strategic Development Manager of Toyota (Nigeria) Limited and gradually rose in rank.
Today, Kunle Ade-Ojo is the one who spearheads the operations of Toyota Nigeria Limited, and his work has brought so much success to the automaker in Nigeria.
- Mary Ojulari (Managing Director Mercedes Benz Nigeria)
In October 2022, the board of directors of Weststar Associates Limited appointed Mrs. Mary Ojulari as the managing director of Mercedes Benz Nigeria. Before moving to the head of affairs of Mercedes Nigeria, she was the Deputy Managing Director/ Chief Financial Officer of the company, where she played a key part in the growth of the company. Mrs Mary Ojulari brought to the new role her 24-year work experience, which cut across diverse sectors, including audit, automotive, hospitality, media, and service sectors.
She got her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from London South Bank University and became a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 2008. She started her career in KPMG, United Kingdom, before moving to Bass Group Plc. as a management accountant in 2003 and, thereafter, to Whitbread Plc, United Kingdom.
By 2006, she joined the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) as an analyst and rose through the ranks to become the Business & Corporate Planning Manager in the same organization in 2009. Returning to Nigeria in 2012, she joined CNBC & Forbes Africa as Chief Financial Officer, in West Africa and later got promoted to Finance Director, where she was responsible for the organization’s administration and Human Resources Division for the West African region for 5 years.
To date, she is a member of the Board of Directors of CNBC and Forbes Africa and the advisory board of Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Program, a program initiated by the former Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, and the United Nations Development Program UNDP that seeks to tackle youth unemployment in Nigeria (2021 – date).
- Mofid Karameh (CEO of Mikano Motors)
Mofid Karameh is the CEO of Mikano Motors. Hearing about Mikano Motors, one would imagine that they are a vehicle manufacturing company in Nigeria. But, they are not. Mikano Motors is simply the automobile marketing company that has spearheaded the launch and introduction of many Chinese automobiles into the Nigerian market. Some of the vehicles the company has introduced into the country are Geely and most recently, the Changan.
Mofid Karameh is allegedly from Syria and holds Nigerian citizenship and has continued to play a pivotal role in the successes Mikano Motors has recorded in Nigeria to date.
Conclusion
These are the CEOs of some of the top vehicles you will find in Nigeria today. These CEOs and Managing Directors sit at the helm of affairs to ensure the smooth functioning of their various auto companies in Nigeria.
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