By Theodore Opara

There was a time in the history of the Nigeria automotive industry that the Japanese brands were never reckoned with. Then, European and American brands dominated the market with different models. American brands such as the GM, Chrysler and Ford ruled the market with their European counterparts like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Peugeot, Citroen and Volkswagen.

They were all over the country as there were no assembly plants in the country then.

And even when the Federal Government decided to set up some assembly plants, European brands like Peugeot and Volkswagen for cars as well as Mercedes, Steyr, and NTM for trucks, were considered before GM plant, American brand was later set up.

But with time, the Japanese brands led by Toyota, Honda and Nissan found their way to the highly competitive market, though not seen then as serious competitors by Nigerians who never compromised their status and quality of vehicles, either passenger vehicles or trucks.

The economy was smiling then and money was always available even for the middle class.

People never knew that the country could be brought to its knees as presently being witnessed. But time changes.

The Japanese brands have been able to break into the Nigerian automotive market with their models for several reasons including affordability, durability, pocket friendly maintenance, simple designs and fuel efficiency. It didn’t take them time to penetrate the market and the rest is history today. The brands have become first choice vehicle for most vehicle buyers. Presently, it is argued that eight out of every 10 cars on Nigerian roads are Toyota (Japanese). This was not possible in the early 1970s.

Having achieve this feat, the Japanese car manufacturers ventured into the luxury car segment which was dominated by two European brands in Nigeria: Mercedes and BMW with brands such as Lexus, Infinity and Acura and they have also taken a reasonable share of the market.

The incursion of foreign auto brands did not end with Japanese. The Koreans also came with their own brands. They include Daewo, Ssangyong, Hyundai and Kia.

Many Nigerian may not have forgotten the exploits of Daewoo race sedan and Ssangyong Musso SUV in the 1980s and 1990s. But while Dawoo and Ssangyong fizzled out over time. Kia and Hyundai have moved on to become household names in the country by dominating their various segments with quality vehicles.

But the raves of the moment in the market are the Chinese brands which are gradually taking over the market with exciting models like never before.

While the Japanese and Koreans entered the market with few brands and models, the Chinese stormed the nation;s auto space with several brands and models.

Initially, the Chinese did not come into the Nigerian market with the kind of quality products like the Japanese and Koreans. But they have steadily improved on their products. The earlier models which came in over a decade ago were lacking in quality, without adequate replacement parts, and sufficient technicians to handle them. They were not the best to put forward in a highly competitive market like Nigeria and the customer who took advantage of the low pricing then, thinking that the models would perform like the earlier Japanese and Korean products that entered the market had their fingers burnt. In fact, it was a sad tale across the brands.

But the Chinese did not relent. They went back to the drawing board and addressed the problem that to the failure of the early models and the results are models that have gone ahead to win car-of-the-year award and truck-of-the-year award.

Notable Chinese brands that are rewriting the history of Chinese brands in Nigeria are JAC, GAC, Changan, Sinotruk, Shackman, Geely, MG, Maxus, Chery, Jetour and Dongfeng.

The Chinese stunning growth in Nigeria earned one of their brands, GAC, the car of the year crown two years ago another has been nominated for the same category this year. From all indications, Chinese cars are no longer an alternative or the last option but rather they are brands whose time has come in Nigeria.