Innoson CEO: Nigerians showing interest in electric vehicles due to high cost of petrol

Innocent Chukwuma, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Innoson Motors, says a lot of Nigerians are buying electric vehicles due to the high cost of petrol.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Friday, Chukwuma said the growing interest has motivated him to develop electric vehicles locally.

“People have so much interest in electric vehicles because of the high cost of fuel. Some people are buying it immediately. That’s why I am able to develop it,” Chukwuma said.

“I produce the carcass and if people need electric vehicles, what I need is to bring electrical components and put on it.

“If you need an engine, we will put an engine on it. If you need CNG, we will put CNG engine for you.”

Commenting on the rising petrol prices, Chukwuma said the current economic condition is affecting everyone in the country — including business operations.

“The petrol price hike is affecting business generally. The foreign exchange is going up, everything is going up and it’s affecting everything,” he said.

“Everything has changed. It’s not affecting only the industry, it’s affecting everybody.”

‘NIGERIA CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VEHICLE FROM START TO FINISH’

The businessman said Nigeria can produce cars from scratch.

He said while the country’s automotive industry is equipped to produce cars from start to finish, low sales figures are hindering the localisation of some components, such as car engines.

“We have the capacity to do a car from beginning to end but because of some items, the producers in Nigeria cannot make good sales. They cannot be here producing it,” Chukwuma said.

He disclosed that Innoson Motors plans to localise the production of car engines and other parts once the company reaches an annual sales target of 10,000 vehicles.

Achieving this milestone, Chukwuma said, would pave the way for setting up an engine factory in Nigeria.

“If I can sell 10,000 motors in one year, I will localise the engine because localising the engine is my agreement with the overseas when I started. We plan to localise, but we must reach up to 10,000 vehicles in one year,” he said.

“The engine is a major component that we are not doing here.”

Chukwuma expressed confidence that full localisation is attainable, adding that the government is making efforts to set up component manufacturers near Innoson Motors to facilitate the sourcing of parts.