ROTIMI ASHER
Not less than 20 brands, personalities and stakeholders of the Nigerian automobile industry smiled home with honours at this years’ Auto Industry Awards, courtesy of the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association(NAJA).
Held recently at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos State, the colourful ceremony was attended by key stakeholders, including the Director General of National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Joseph Osanipin and representatives of Toyota Nigeria limited, Coscharis Motors, Mikano Motors, Innoson, Kia Nigeria, Nord Motors, CFAO, Carloha, amongst others.
Under the Personalities category, while the GM, Suzuki By CFAO, Aissatou Diouf, was recognized as the Outstanding General Manager of the Year, NGEP Chairman, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim and Chief Innocent Chukwuma (Founder/Chairman of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing) were recognized as the Autogas vehicle promoter of the year and Auto Personality Of The Year respectively.
Under Corporate list, while Nord was recognized as the Enterprising Indigenous car company of the Year, Mikano Motors and TNL clinched Most Innovative Auto Company and Pick Up of the Year 2023 respectively.
Moreover, the Most Resilient Auto Companies of the Year went to Coscharis Motors, (Nigeria’s representative of Ford, jaguar land Rover, BMW, Rolls Royce and Renault brands) and Stallion Motors (Nigeria’s exclusive franchisee for Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, MG, Honda among others)
While the Most Innovative Auto Company went to Mikano Motors, Nord was honoured as the most Enterprising Indigenous car company of the Year.
Other significant awards pronounced at the event include Outstanding Comeback brand of the Year, which went to Chery by Carloha and New Entrant Auto Company/Model of the Year bestowed on Jetour Toyota By CFAO, Ford Territory and Jet Lander
Nigeria’s Compact SUV of the Year was won jointly by Changan CS35 and Kia Sonet, while Indigenous Passenger Bus of the Year went to Jet Mover.
Other awardees of the night include Toyota Landcruiser (Large Sports Utiity Vehicle Of The Year) and Toyota Hiace (Minibus of the Year)
Suzuki S-Presso won the Budget Car of the Year. Changan Uni-K won the Auto Design of the Year. JAC by Lanre Shittu Motors also won the Heavy Duty Truck of the Year, while Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing won the Assembly Plant of the Year awards.
While Luxury Brand of the Year was clinched by Mercedes-Benz distributed in Nigeria by Weststar Associates Limited, Auto Workshop of the Year went to RT Briscoe.
In his address at the event, Osanipin challenged key players in the Nigerian Automotive Industry to think more on automotive components development and integration in assembly operations.
“Today we are here to celebrate,” he said, adding, “However, we need to challenge ourselves with the future of the Nigeria automotive industry. We need to take the necessary steps to make these changes. It starts with us; we are the ones to determine where the automotive sector will be heading in Nigeria.”
While the NADDC boss applauded NAJA for standing firm in promoting the local auto industry, he challenged the motoring press to consider components manufacturers in future NAJA awards projects.
Please refer to the Honnours Roll Call for details.
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