Motoring
TATA Launches Showroom in Nigeria
Joseph BAMIDELE
LAGOS-Tata International has been present in Nigeria since 2006 as the distributors of Tata Motors Commercial vehicles. In these nine years, they have sold more than 6,000 vehicles capturing a 15 per cent market share in the segments that they focus on.
This was contained in a statement issued by the company’s media handlers Zenera consulting and made available to Biztellers.com via electronic mail.
TATA Plant
The company would also build a plant to assemble vehicles in Nigeria according to the statement. The Managing Director of Tata International, Mr. Noel Tata stated this at the inauguration of a new showroom the company built in Lagos as part of its desire to consolidate its stake in the Nigerian auto industry.
The Tata group, he said was also committed to the new Auto Policy in Nigeria and “we are pleased to announce the start of our project for the assembly of vehicles in Nigeria through our local partner, IPI.
“Since we started operations in Nigeria, I am pleased to share that we have trained over 200 technicians in our training school for our network partners and key customers.”
He said, “Today Tata Motors has the largest portfolio of products amongst all our competitors, starting from the ACE, which is a 500 kg payload last mile delivery vehicle, to the recently launched world truck, the Prima range, which are 40 ton and above payload long haul vehicles.
“Over the last two years, we have also consolidated our presence in specialised vehicles for the mass-transit and waste management segments.”
Tata said in 2016, they would add a full range of vehicles to address the Defence and Police segments as well.
“At Tata International, we recognise that we have perhaps not done enough in terms of growing our network across the country, as well as meeting the expectation of our customers on the immediate availability of spares.
“Both these issues are going to be our areas of focus for 2016, and we are undertaking several initiatives to quickly improve our performance. I hope that you will all see a marked difference in our network reach in coming months.”
Tata said to drive these initiatives, they also have a brand new team of Niraj Srivastava, the new head of our Auto business and Naresh Leekha, the head of their West Africa operations.
“Whilst distributorship of Tata Motors vehicles has been the foundation of our presence across Africa, we are delighted to represent another global brand – the world leader in farm equipment – John Deere.
“In this business, our focus has been to offer small holders the opportunity of mechanisation and the ability to multiply their incomes rapidly.
Over the last three years, we have sold over 500 tractors to such small farm holders and commercial contractors.”
He said they have also trained over 80 contractors on using the tractors. In addition, our financing offers, in conjunction with John Deere Financial, have also enabled purchases and flexible repayments by our customers.
“We recognise that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve in this large market. We will continue to improve on our services to the Nigerian market and look forward to becoming an integral part of the agricultural and transport revolution that we are certain will take place very soon.
“As the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria will continue to remain a focus market for us. We will make investments in the country, and this showroom is proof of our continued belief in the growth story of Nigeria.
“We are also acutely aware of the growing aspirations of our customers in Nigeria. With the support from our OEMs, we will continue to bring our latest products into the market and support them with our network and service infrastructure.”
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has ended contracts with taxi rank and terminal operators due to their failure to meet engagement terms and conditions.
Mr. Ubokutom Nyah, the Mandate Secretary of the Transportation Secretariat, FCTA, made this announcement during a meeting with managers of these terminals and taxi ranks in Abuja.
Nyah clarified that due to the operators’ failure to fulfill their engagement terms, the FCTA had to terminate their contracts.
He instructed them to transfer control of the ranks to the Administration within three months, starting from Nov. 21.
He lamented the presence of unauthorized motor parks in the city and assured the readiness of the Administration to establish proper taxi ranks and terminals in the capital.
He revealed that personally visiting the city’s taxi ranks, terminals, and unauthorized motor parks gave him direct insight into the poor condition of these facilities.
He emphasized that as the federal capital city, Abuja deserves better, highlighting that the poor condition of these facilities attracts various criminal elements.
He said “We must rid Abuja of all these. I have gone round the taxi ranks, and of all the places I visited, not one is worthy to be called even a village motor park.”
The Mandate Secretary stressed that the intention wasn’t punitive; rather, it aimed to revamp the sector, introduce new engagement terms, and modernize taxi ranks and terminals in the federal capital.
He also highlighted the plan to increase the number of terminals and ranks where necessary, which would positively impact the administration’s revenue.
He emphasized that this measure was part of a broader effort to eliminate illegal motor parks in Abuja and curb the associated criminal activities.
In response, Mr. Adebisi Lawal, the Operator of Jahi Taxi Rank, praised the administration’s initiative to modernize the taxi ranks and terminals.
Lawal urged the administration to prioritize current operators’ involvement in the selection of new developers for the modernization of the taxi ranks and terminals.
It was a show of power at the Ojota area of Lagos on Monday as soldiers pummeled an officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, (LASTMA).
Eyewitness accounts claim that the ugly scene played out around 8am, and saw about eight soldiers pounce on the yet to identified LASTMA official, while his colleagues took to their heels.
The video of the melodrama has gone viral, where the LASTMA official was appealing to the soldiers, who appeared bent on ‘teaching him a lesson’.
This onslaught comes on the back of a reported assault of a soldier at the same location by LASTMA officials last week.
It would appear that what played out today was the army asserting its authority and defending their khaki as the armed soldiers carried out what looked like a revenge mission.
Eyewitnesses further averred that the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, after the soldiers left the scene.
It was gathered that the authorities at LASTMA has reported the incident to the military authorities who are said to be looking into the matter.
Meanwhile many members of the public are rejoicing that the soldiers have taught the crude LASTMA official that power is stronger than power, for all their atrocities against motorists on Lagos roads.
The impact of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, has seen the pump prices of the product skyrocket with a corresponding increase in the cost commercial transportation in Nigeria.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), intra-city bus transportation fares across Nigerian cities, measured between May and June 2023, increased from N649.59 to N1,285.41 in June 2023.
This translates to 98 percent growth or N635.82 within the month in view.
The NBS made the data available in its Transport Fare Watch report for June 2023.
In the report, the NBS also shared the breakdown of bus journeys within the cities per drop for constant routes; bus journey intercity (state route); charges per person, amongst others.
On a year-on-year basis, the report has it that bus fares rose by 120.63 percent from N582.61 paid by commuters in June 2022.
The average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop rose to N5,686.49 in June 2023 compared to N4,002.16 in May 2023 indicating an increase of 42.09 percent, month-on-month.
The report read, “The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased by 97.88 per cent from N649.59 in May 2023 to N1,285.41 in June 2023.
On a year-on-year basis, it rose by 120.63 per cent from N582.61 in June 2022.
“In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop rose to N5,686.49 in June 2023, indicating an increase of 42.09 on a month-on-month basis compared to N4,002.16 in May 2023.
“On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 55.25 per cent from N3,662.87 in June 2022.”
Biztellers reported that the twin forces of forex pressure and increasing price of Brent in the global market would likely see the pump prices of petrol, increased again in no distant time in Nigeria.
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