Travelling in Nigeria, especially by road, can be quite challenging, if not traumatic. The challenges these days are many and travellers are always afraid of possible danger lurking on the road. Apart from challenges like bad roads which most often lead to accidents, there are other dangers like kidnapping and armed robbery on the highways. But there is another ugly hurdle that often confront travellers to the East at the Benin By-pass.

THE transformation was beyond everyone’s imagination as Motoring journalists gathered at Weststar Associates office, representatives of Mercedes Benz in Nigeria to catch a glimpse of the all-new Mercedes Benz A-Class and test drive it too. The occasion was a special one for Mercedes in the country being the first time it would be launching four new exciting models at a time. Members of the public were also invited to test-drive the cars-Mercedes Benz A, B, C and E-Class. It was all fun as Weststar hosted the guests, the Mercedes Benz way.

When BMW decided to go into the production of sports utility vehicle segment, they came up with a unique car, the X5. And rather than call it sports utility vehicle (SUV) they tagged it Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) and this marked a new era for this car segment. The X5 changed the rules in the sports utility vehicle segment with its array of innovations. It became the standard for which premium SUVs were judged. The X5 was an instant hit, which later led to the introduction of X3 and X6.

Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, announced that it will install the nation’s largest rooftop photovoltaic power plant at its manufacturing factory in Asan, Korea, to expand the use of renewable energy and take measures to help reduce global warming.

Kia Motors has been named 37th in Interbrand’s list of the 50 Best Global Green Brands 2013, a debut for the Korean car manufacturer in the annual ranking of sustainability and environmental performance of the world’s 100 most valuable brands. Interbrand assesses businesses based on market perception and the actual environmental performance of the company and its products and services.

The eighth edition of The Nigeria Auto Awards held recently in Lagos confirmed the supremacy of the Toyota brand as it carted home six awards.

Ford Motor Company has cut CO2 emissions at its global facilities by 37 per cent per vehicle between 2000 and 2012 and plans for a 30 per cent reduction from 2010 to 2025 by addressing everything from new products and technologies to manufacturing processes.

Planet Projects Limited (PPL), a transport development company has won the African Award for Integrated Mobility by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), for its strides and contributions to the development of urban transportation in Africa.

The first edition of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUT-AKURE) Auto Show will hold from August 20 to 26, 2013, at the university ground in Akure.

Renowned automobile marketing company, Lanre Shittu Motors has introduced a single digit interest rate finance for its Mack Truck customers nationwide.

MANAGING Director of Filkmou Ltd, Mr Clifford Omage, representative of Autoboss diagnostic equipment, Tongrum/Torin (BigRed) garage equipment, Premium Guard (Vehicle Filters) and Haynes Automotive repair manuals, has explained that the quest to give Nigerians best products at affordable prices led to his introduction of these world-class products into the Nigerian market.

The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, has disclosed that concerted effort of the corps and other road safety agencies across the country has brought road crashes reduction nationwide from 400 to 300 weekly.

Determined to make the acquisition of Kia models easier for its customers, Dana Motors, representatives of Kia Motors in Nigeria is partnering with Stanbic IBTC bank for a friendly and easy financing scheme.

General Manager, After-Sales, Elizade Motors, Mr. Emmanuel Oluwasayo Oluwaniyi has said that the company’s Annual Drivers’ Workshop for their fleet customers is helping to produce better drivers.

Luxury car maker, Mercedes-Benz has added four new models to its model line up in Nigeria to boost its market share. This probably marks the first time the company is introducing this number of new models at a launch in the country.