Car dealers eye electric vehicles as demand drops

There are indications that car dealers operating in the country are strongly considering delving into electric vehicles amid falling demand for fossil fuel-powered cars, The PUNCH reports.

The National President of the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria, Mr Ajibola Adedoyin, disclosed this in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Sunday. Adedoyin explained that the group plans to patronise made-in-Nigeria vehicles as well as electric vehicles.

“We are now trying to promote our own made-in-Nigeria and electric cars, and the gas-propelled cars. So, there are a lot in that sector, and we are thinking of going into that sector as dealers now. That is, entering the gas- and electric-propelled cars instead of the normal car that we are used to,” he stated.

Adedoyin, while admitting that the business has been stable for some time due to the stability of the exchange rate, said demand had been very low.

emand has dropped. The demand dropped in the sense that people now have to look for how to manage what they have in terms of refurbishing and trying to make do with what they have,” he said.

He admitted that because electric cars have not been widely adopted in Nigeria, there are still one or two challenges associated with them. Adedoyin stressed that electric cars are the next phase of transportation in Nigeria.

“But, you know, because it has not been well used before, or well put into practice here before, there are still one or two areas where people are looking at its disadvantages. But, by and large, it is what can be promoted, because that might be the new face of transportation in the very near years to come,” he said.