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Innoson Wins 2021 Auto Manufacturer Of The Year Award
The Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) has declared Nigeria’s first indigenous automaker, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Ltd (IVM), the Auto Manufacturer of The Year 2021 (Local Content).
At a colourful ceremony held on Wednesday, December 1 at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the organisers said the Nnewi auto plant has made tremendous efforts to develop the industry especially by looking inwards and engaging in real manufacturing thereby impacting positively on the downstream firms.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Chairman of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Chief, Dr Innocent Ifediaso Chukwuma OFR, the management and staff, the General Manager [Sales], Obum Osigwe, thanked NAJA for the recognition.
Osigwe described the awards as very credible, assuring that the 2021 Auto Manufacturer of The Year honour would energise IVM to engage a higher gear in its efforts to manufacture vehicles needed by the Nigerian market.
“We will not relent as a company till our country is known around the world due to our vehicles,” the Sales Manager pledged, stressing that the company is constantly investing in the quality and reliability of its line-up of vehicles.
“Innoson Vehicles typifies the spirit of an average Nigerian. We will keep striving and working hard to make Nigerians proud,” Osigwe remarked.
Though Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Ltd was officially commissioned by the then President Goodluck Jonathan in October 2010, vehicle production had commenced about two years earlier with minibuses.
.Innoson has since added more products to the IVM line-up, including shuttle buses, bigger buses for mass transit, various pick-up truck models {some made for the security agencies}, sedans, SUVs, ambulances, family vans, and refuse management vehicles.
The expansion of the product range also led to the commissioning of two new plants in July 2021 and the installation of an automated robotic paint spray booth, which was integrated into the production processes to increase efficiency and quality in the IVM factory complex.
A pointer to Innososn’s commitment to building vehicles according to the customers’ needs is a batch of 100 mass transit buses the plant is currently producing for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation {NNPC}, which will run on both compressed natural gas {CNG} and the usual fuel.
Part of the auto plant’s plan in the next few years is to see sundry IVM vehicles being widely used on the continent, leveraging on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) opportunities.
