FOR close to three decades, the Toyota Hiace commuter has ruled its segment despite stiff competition from its Japanese rival, the Nissan Urvan and many Chinese models. Toyota Hiace for this long, has been cloned, especially by the Chinese auto makers but none had matched its quality, safety, comfort, reliability and overall performance. Brand by brand, the Hiace accounts for the highest number of buses on Nigerian roads in its segment. Though, there are many versions of the look-alike Hiace models but they are from different makers.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah has disclosed that the Federal Government has no intention of reversing the national auto policy started by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2013. The Minister who made this known at a one-day stakeholders’ forum on the Nigerian Automobile Industry recently in Lagos said that the government would rather improve on what it met on the ground by taking the contributions of the stakeholders in the auto sector.

Mercedes-Benz has reported a remarkable increase in sales this May with unit sales increasing by 12.9% to 170,625 vehicles. In the period of January through May, 818,175 vehicles were delivered to customers (+12.3%), more than ever before in the first five months of the year. The auto maker achieved record unit sales in Europe and the Asia-Pacific last month. Mercedes-Benz was the market leader in the USA, Japan, Canada, Australia and Taiwan in May.

Who would have thought that Kia, the once lowly rated Korean automobile brand could rule the automobile world in 2016. Who could have imagined Kia as the first non-premium brand to top the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, IQS, ranking in 27 years. And who could have imagined Kia Rio as the ‘Car of the Year’ in Nigeria in 2015. These were some of the questions agitating the minds of many auto freaks since last week when the brand was rank number one in the United States auto industry for initial quality by J.D. Power. To many, it was a surprise, but the fact remains that Kia in the last 20 years had worked hard for this.

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi has applauded the Federal Government for resumption of work on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and other major roads across the country following the recent mobilization of contractors, assuring that the Corps is determined to ensure that safety measures are observed at the construction areas through adequate warning signs and effective traffic management.