Kunle Ade-Ojo Named as the New Managing Director of Toyota Nigeria

Toyota Nigeria Limited (TNL) has appointed Kunle Ade-Ojo, formerly an Executive Director, as its new Managing Director, replacing Chandrasheker K. Thampy, who has steps aside to take on an advisory role within the firm.  Kunle has a vast knowledge of the automobile business, having worked extensively with Toyota USA, before returning to assume the position of business strategic development manager at the automobile giant’s Nigerian unit.

His experience will be critical to the company’s quest towards maintaining its position as the largest provider of automobile in the country, following the recent establishment of the Automotive Policy which seeks to limit importation of wholly assembled vehicles and boost local production.

The national automotive Policy which was formulated with input from both local and foreign manufacturers such as Toyota is going to reduce importation of cars by imposing a tariff of 70 percent on imported cars which would lead to an increase of the price of cars.  In Nigeria, Toyota is reportedly the foremost representative of international auto manufacturers with total sales of over 20,000 new vehicles annually.

Earlier last month, the global car maker hit a dip in business when it had to recall a range of its model from global consumers, following technical electronic issues which were reportedly a threat to steering, horn and airbag.  It recalled Hilux, RAV4 and Yaris models in the Nigerian market as a part of a worldwide 6.4 million total recall.  Despite this setback, demand for the Japanese built vehicles remains high, particularly in Africa’s largest economy.

Copyright Ventures Africa 2014