Osanipin: Lanre Shittu’s Strength in Pickups, Trucks, Ready to Support Vehicles with Sufficient Parts

Bennett  Oghifo

The Director General of National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Joseph Osanipin, has expressed satisfaction with Lanre Shittu Motors (LSM) for choosing to manufacture pickups and trucks where it has comparative advantage.

He also commended LSM for focusing on compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered vehicles.

The NADDC Director General stated this after inspecting the LSM auto assembly plant in Lagos, where he was taken through the process of putting the JAC truck components together, as well as the conversion of LSM pickups to run on CNG.

Osanipin said, “I’m very impressed with what I saw here. Lanre Shittu Motors has picked where its strength is – the pickups and trucks.

“I’m also impressed by their human capital development. We have seen the training facility and capacity. We also saw the spare parts. It means they are ready to support their vehicles with sufficient parts when the need arises.

“I have seen capacity and ability to meet the demand of the market. What we have seen here, I’m not too surprised because Lanre Shittu Motors has been there over the years.” 

He expressed satisfaction with the state of Lanre Shittu auto assembly plant and the volume of work being carried out there.

About 95 per cent of the workers engaged at both truck and pickup sections of the plant are Nigerians.

On the preparedness of the auto industry for the CNG-powered vehicles, he said, “From my assessment of what the LSM is doing, it means the assemblers are ready for the CNG vehicle initiative.”

He urged Nigerians to embrace the initiative, noting that it is cost-effective, saying, “Again, looking at the safety measures being put in place here at LSM, it shows we are ready for CNG. The next set of conversions to be done here will be the trucks.”

The Managing Director of Lanre Shittu Motors, Mr. Taiwo Shittu said the company placed a premium on after-sale support, with over N2 billion worth of spare parts in its store.

“For any vehicle or auto brand to survive in Nigeria, after-sale support is very important. 

“We have been the sole distributor in Nigeria for many brands, including MAN and JAC. Having passed through this stage, we understand that no vehicle brand can make any headway in the country without adequate parts.

“A lot of made-in-Nigeria vehicles failed in the past because the handlers did not realise that without sufficient spare parts, they cannot survive,” he said.

He said they had delivered some CNG-powered mass transit buses for the shuttle at the airport.

He said LSM could do six units daily, adding that the firm saw the huge business in the CNG-powered vehicles shortly after the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government and went straight into it.

He said, “We know from our knowledge of automobiles – this is our 43 years in the industry – that once the fuel subsidy is removed, the next option is the CNG. So we went straight into CNG vehicles.

“As we speak, we are converting our vehicles to run on CNG. We have our CNG conversion kits on the ground. We have mass transit buses already at the airports for shuttle, assembled here in Nigeria. 

“Another set of CNG mass transit buses have arrived at the seaport and are being cleared. This will be for commercial operation. And it will reduce operation cost by 25 per cent.”