There are growing concerns that Nigeria may face a shortage of foreign-used vehicles, commonly referred to as tokunbo cars, as dealers express grievances over import difficulties.
Car dealers, who shared their concerns in Lagos on Monday, attributed the challenges to the impact of the high exchange rate on duty rates, among other factors.
Mr. Olaniran Adelana, the State Secretary of the Lagos State Motor Dealers Association, highlighted the difficulty in selling old cars due to uncertainties surrounding the availability of new ones.
He explained, “The rate of dollars is making it difficult for us to purchase cars the way we used to buy them from Europe.
And we are having challenges selling old stocks because of the frequent depreciation of the naira.”
Adelana emphasized that some dealers had already gone out of business due to the current challenges, noting that the recent improvement in the naira’s value against the dollar was not sufficient to address the issue.
Mr. Chinonso Amaraiwu, another car dealer from Chimex Motors at Berger Car Mart, acknowledged a gradual increase in car sales but pointed out that restocking had become a major issue.
He expressed concerns about the decreasing influx of cars into the country, attributing it to various challenges in vehicle importation, including the duty payable on imported cars.
“The duty is discouraging a lot of importers from going into vehicle importation. Very soon, people will find it very difficult to buy cars, especially tokunbo vehicles, because they are no longer coming the way they used to come before now,” he asserted.
A car dealer in the Amuwo-Odofin Area of Lagos State, identified as Chibueze, emphasized the high cost of importing tokunbo cars associated with the exchange rate.
He illustrated, “For instance, you can sell your car at its current price of say N6m, and when you want to bring in the same car, of the same year and model, you will find out that you can’t get it for that amount.”
