A subsidiary of the Stallion Group, Stallion Nissan Motors Nigeria (NMN), has been conferred with the 2015 Global Sales Award by Nissan Motor Corporation, Japan, in recognition of its sales contribution and customer service performance in 2014.
During a brief ceremony to present the award to Stallion NMN, Nissan’s Managing Director for South Africa operations, Mr Mike Whitefield, said the award is a very important one which recognises the significant growth that Stallion NMN has brought to the Nissan Motor Corporation in reaching the automaker’s global target of 8 per cent market share.
Stallion Nissan Motors Nigeria Ltd started operations in April 2013, achieving the 4 per cent Nigerian automobile market share by the end of its financial year, March 2014 and by March 2015, the Nissan distributor attained a double-digit 10 per cent market share.
With its semi-knocked down (SKD) plant in Lagos, where it now assembles a number of Nissan models locally, the company targets 15 per cent market share by the end of 2015 financial next March.
Whitfield said this is a very significant progression which has enabled Stallion NMN’s impact to be felt in the global market as it concerns the growth of the Nissan brand.
“Nissan will continue to move forward in Nigeria which is the largest economy in Africa. Nigeria is one of the major emerging markets of the world and Stallion NMN has proven to be an excellent partnership. Within this short time, it received the award for best showroom in West Africa and the fastest growing automobile brand in Nigeria,” he said.
Commending the Nigerian government for the commitment to the National Automotive Policy, Whitfield, who is also the President, Nissan Africa, said that the auto policy remained the catalyst for a boost in automobile manufacturing in the country to make Nigeria an automobile hub for African countries.
“I believe the future is very bright. Local distributors and key importers should work together to see that the policy is successful. It is the right path to follow in order to make Nigeria take its place as an important automotive hub in Africa,” Whitfield said.
In his response, the Managing Director of Stallion NMN, Mr Parvir Singh, said that the confernment of the award in just two and a half years of operations in Nigeria was indeed a significant achievement for Nissan and one of its biggest recognition.
He thanked his workforce saying, “I know we have been put through a lot of pressure to achieve this; but nothing good comes easy. Stallion Nissan Motors as part of the Stallion conglomerate in West Africa started in 2013. We have attained double digit market share. This is good achievement for us but we will not stop here in giving mobility to our customers in Nigeria. We will continue to exceed expectations,” he said.
With about 70 independent dealers, Stallion Nissan’s penetration and growth in Nigeria’s automobile market has been among the highest in the world, selling about 5,400 units last financial year and reaching the 10 per cent market share.
Speaking on possible tougher competition, a likely resultant factor of the auto policy, Singh said, “We welcome competition, because it shows that the auto policy is working. But we offer great customer service and the Nissan Motor Corporation is a great partner with excellent strategy in policy. With the setting up the of our SKD plant, we are right on top in terms of sales. We will continue to look at segment analysis and dynamically change plans.”
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