ABUJA - Dr Aliyu Modibbo, the FCT Minister, today said the annual importation of over 150,000 used cars had made it difficult for the car assembly plants to compete favourably.

Modibbo, who spoke at the launch of the new Peugeot 307 Sedan car in Abuja, said many of the car assembly plants had closed operation due to large number of imported used cars.

He said for every car assembly plant that was closed, some families were thrown into poverty due to loss of job.

“If you have N2 million and you want to buy a car, I urge you to buy a new car from the assemblies, like Peugeot, instead of buying a second handed vehicle.

“Because for every car you buy from the local assemblies, you keep somebody employed, ” he said.

Modibbo said the Peugeot brand had remained the only surviving car assembly in the country that is employing about 1,000 Nigerians.

In his remarks, Alhaji Ahmed Bichi, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said some of the car assembly plants would still bounce back to business.

Bichi said the Federal Government divested it’s shares in some of the car assembly companies in 2007,saying, some companies had already shown interest in reviving the assembly plants.
He, however, urged Nigerians to patronise the local automotive plants.

Alhaji Sani Dauda, the Chairman, Board of Directors of PAN Ltd., said the company had embarked on an expansion project that would make its presence felt in all 36 states of the Federation.

He said the company was already present in 20 states.