Toyota Motor Corporation is poised to end the year as the fastest selling auto brand again. The Japanese automaker sold 7.41 million vehicles through the third quarter and is on track to deliver more vehicles this year than General Motors and Volkswagen which sold 7.25 million and 7.03 million vehicles respectively during the same period.

DANA Group of Companies has finally taken the Renault passenger car franchise in Nigeria, with a promise to make customer satisfaction a priority. Renault Passenger car franchise was until last year under the CFAO group in Nigeria.

Kia Motors Corporation has increased its brand value by 15% over the past year to reach the 83rd position on the exclusive list of ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands,’ according to a 2013 study released recently by Interbrand, the world’s largest brand consultancy agency.

Though not very popular in the Nigerian market, the Ford Focus, the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world in 2012, retains the title for the first half of 2013, according to a statement by Ford Motor Company.

The Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola has challenged African countries to set up transport authorities to drive the transport vision for their cities as more cities in the continent become more urbanised. Dr. Mobereola while speaking to a five-man delegation from Uganda on a two-day study visit to LAMATA to understand the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and its sustenance for over five years, said apart from having a political champion, there was the need for governments to set up the transport institution and put together the technical personnel before implementing the system.

Nissan has restyled the Sentra with upscale features that are evidently glaring and trendy to give the car an edge over competitions in the mid-to-up-class segment, where Toyota’s Corolla and Honda’s Civic had over the years held sway.

The new automotive policy is a deliberate government effort to rescue the strategic and critical automotive sector of the economy from the strangulating grip of dumping. This is to give Nigerians the opportunity for mass employment and innovation in automotive technology. If a country fails to produce the goods that rich countries produce, it may never be rich. Someone said it and evidence abound in support.

Toyota Nigeria Limited (TNL) has said that it is working with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to arrest the incidents of roads mishap involving mini buses on the highways. The FRSC sometime ago identified mini-buses as accounting for highest accident rates in the country.

The all-new Range Rover Sport has gone on sale in Nigeria – just nine months after it was revealed to the world on the streets of New York. Developed alongside the highly-acclaimed Range Rover, the all-new Range Rover Sport now delivers the brand’s best-ever on-road dynamics together with class-leading, genuine Land Rover all-terrain capability. The all-new, technology-packed, Range Rover Sport, presents customers with a more assertive and muscular exterior and a more luxurious interior.

HYUNDAI Motor Company, the fastest growing automotive company by brand, saw its brand value surge 20.5 percent from a year earlier to $9 billion, marking its higest-ever ranking of No. 43, according to brand consultancy Interbrand’s 2013 Best 100 Global Brands. Hyundai, which has been included in the Best 100 Global Brands list for nine consecutive years, entered within top 50 for the first time this year.

Intermotors , a division of CFAO Motors Nigeria Ltd is offering one million naira price reduction on its Chevrolet Captiva at the Abuja Motor Fair. The company is also giving huge discounts to customers who pick their all new Chevrolet Cruze during the fair.

A leading road transport firm, Young Shall Grow Motors Limited, is partnering with a popular Chinese bus manufacturing company, Zhongtong Bus Holding Co. Ltd, to introduce and market the latter’s wide-ranging models in the Nigerian market.

The Abuja Motor Fair, organised by BKG Exhibition Limited, has always been an avenue for the automobile industry to shine and for different auto companies to display their various brands. Weststar Associates Ltd, the authorised sole distributors of Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram in Nigeria has always made its presence positively felt. In the past, their classy array of a variety of passenger and commercial vehicle models such as the A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, E-Class, G-Class, GL, GLK, Sprinter, Actros, Zetros, including the Chrysler family of Ram, Grand Cherokee, Durango, Dodge Caliber and Wrangler have perpetually dazzled the audience with their outstanding features and attractive prices.

Skoda may soon hit a chord with the buying public following the recent introduction of the all new Rapid – a straightforward, spacious, good value B-segment competitor.

An emerging B–segment Rapid sedan is Skoda’s first model, incorporating the automaker’s new design language characterised by crisp lines that help to define clean surfaces. Rapid is available in Nigeria with the 1.6 litre turbocharged engine which delivers 77kw of power. This engine boasts very high fuel efficiency like other Skoda models.

Following the influx of sophisticated cars into the country from different parts of the world, auto mechanics in Nigeria have called for special training on the use of computers to repair faulty vehicles