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Nigeria Full Year 2015: Ford Ranger tops disrupted market

Ford Ranger made in Nigeria 17 Nov 2015This is the very first Ford Ranger assembled in Nigeria – on 17 November 2015. 

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and brands by clicking on the title *

Now updated with locally-produced models.

The Nigerian new light vehicle market has halved in 2015 to sink to 23.293 units from 53.900 in 2014 (-57%). Of these, 11.526 were imported through Nigeria’s ports and we now have access to sales of vehicles produced locally, amounting to 11.767. Toyota remains the most popular carmaker in Nigeria with 28% share (-57%) while Ford gains 38% to leap from #5 to #2 with 16.2% share. Kia (-30%), Nissan (-11%) and Mitsubishi (+35%) follow. Chinese manufacturers include BAW (#11), Changan (#12), GAC Trumpchi (#14) and Foton (#15).

Toyota Hilux Nigeria 2015. Picture courtesy sacarfan.co.zaToyota remains the #1 brand in Nigeria in 2015. 

Model-wise, the inclusion of locally-produced nameplates reshuffles the ranking. The Ford Ranger finishes the year at #1 with 10.9% share, edging past the Toyota Hiace (10.7%) and Hilux (10.4%) as well as the Mitsubishi L200 (10.1%). The Nissan NP300 and Kia Rio also post market shares above 5%. 2014’s leader, the Toyota Corolla, is down to #10.

Nissan NP300 Nigeria 2015The Nissan NP300 ranks 5th in Nigeria in 2015.

The Nigerian automotive market is currently going through a transition phase from full importer towards an aspiration to become one of Africa’s main production hubs. According to the National Automotive Design and Development Council, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Peugeot and Volkswagen cars and SUV, Shacman and MAN Trucks, and Ashok-Leyland buses are now assembled in Nigeria. In August 2015, the Nigerian government awarded licences for 12 new vehicle assembly plants to manufacturers, and a lot of them are Chinese. They include Toyota (Century Autos), Renault (Dana Motors), Joylong, Dongfeng (Coscharis Auto), FAW (Perfection Motors), Tata, Higer (Globe Motors) and Sinotruk.

Kia Rio Nigeria 2015 The Kia Rio is the best-selling passenger car in Nigeria in 2015. It is also assembled locally.

With a total population of 182 million inhabitants and a middle-class now amounting to 38 million potential buyers, the Nigerian new car market potential is generally estimated in the long term at one million annual units, which would position it today as the #1 market in Africa. We are still very far from this target, yet PriceWaterhouseCoopers recently published a study projecting that local production increase will propel it to 2 million annual units in 2035 and as much 7.6 million in 2050. If that’s the case, by then Africa could potentially start to replace China as the world’s engine of growth.

Previous year: Nigeria Full Year 2014: Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Accent on top

Two years ago: Nigeria Full Year 2014: Toyota at 37% share, Kia up 27%, Chinese hold 12% of market

Full Year 2015 Top 10 brands and models vs. FY14 figures below.

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