What French car makers are doing to re-enter Nigerian market

French automobile manufacturers are partnering with major Nigerian companies to produce vehicles that will help them re-enter the Nigerian market, the French ambassador to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, has said.

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In an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Fonbaustier highlighted two key collaborations with ambitious production targets.

He identified the first as the Dangote Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Limited (DPAN), a partnership between Dangote Industries Limited and Stellantis Group, the parent company of Peugeot.

DPAN is a joint venture which operates a vehicle assembly plant in Kaduna State, where cars are built from imported components.

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Mr Fonbaustier said that although DPAN initially launched with the Peugeot 301, the company is now exploring the production of multiple models, including the 308, 3008, 5008, and 508.

The venture is targeting production and sale of 44,000 vehicles annually in Nigeria, a figure described by the ambassador as “ambitious but achievable.”

French automobile companies, especially Peugeot and Renault, once had a strong presence in Nigeria, particularly from the 1970s through the 1990s. At the time, Peugeot had a factory in Kaduna called Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), where they built popular models like the 404, 504, and 505.

The Kaduna plant also employed thousands of people and worked with many local suppliers. Renault, on the other hand, also sold cars in Nigeria on a smaller scale.

Nigeria was trying to build its own car industry, and Peugeot was the star of that plan.

But when Nigeria fell into what has been termed the second recession in the mid-1980s, and oil prices dropped, the cost of automobile production rose. This, alongside the importation of used “Tokunbo” cars and other factors, affected production and purchase.

Local vehicle production in Nigeria is, however, on the increase with brands like Innoson, GAC and Mikano.

In the interview, Mr Fonbaustier said the French automobile industry is making a slow but conscientious effort to re-enter the market.

“We have new ambitions, but you know, for the automobile industry, it’s a long cycle. It took a long time for the French to vanish from the automobile scene.

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“It will take a bit of time to see the resurrection and the arrival,” he said.

Mr Fonbaustier said the second partnership is between Renault, a major French car manufacturer and Coscaris Group, a large auto distributor in Nigeria.

He noted that the two companies are working to “co-produce some vehicles.”

The brand, he said, is called Logan.

“But this is not the end of the story. I think French business in Nigeria is broader than that. As you know, we still have about 100 companies operating in Nigeria.

“They directly employ 16,000 Nigerians. I think the amount of French investments before the shrinkage of the Naira was estimated to be 10 billion,” he added.