Tata assembler IPI lauds FGs auto policy

The automotive policy as enunciated under the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) of the federal government has the potential to catalyse the development of the nation’s automotive sector into a major base for the country’s economy, if the provisions are effectively implemented to the last detail.

The NAIDP, popularly known as the automotive policy, also has what it takes to make Nigeria the hub of the continent’s automotive industry.

Director of Operations, Iron Products Industries (IPI), Lagos, Davies Ikegbula, expressed this after a tour of company’s chain of production facilities in the Ikotun area of Lagos, where commercial vehicles of various brands, including Tata, are built and assembled.

Ikegbula remarked that a timely execution of the policy which seeks to revitalise the auto industry by discouraging vehicle importation and encouraging local production, can help boost activities in the industry and lead to the production of affordable, but top quality vehicles for the local market and export.

According to him, existing auto plants like IPI, Innoson and PAN, as well as new original equipment investors attracted by the NAIDP, have the capacity to meet the nation’s vehicular needs, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles (like pick-ups, light and heavy duty trucks), and special purpose articulated vehicles like haulage tankers and trailers.

He, therefore, implored the federal government to introduce incentives and policies that will help the local industry to thrive, in addition to addressing the challenges which have militated against progress in the industry, including the problem of power and high exchange rate.

Described as the clear leader in the structural steel works and steel fabrication industry in the country, IPI’s main factory on Ikotun-Egbe road, Ikotun, Lagos, was busy like a beehive when the visitors arrived to witness sundry heavy duty truck bodies in various stages of construction.

At work were a wide range of high precision equipment, including cutting and bending machines that were fabricating steel frames and metal sheets for the construction of trailers, tankers, and bottle carriers for the brewing and bottling companies.

Particularly interesting were the sights of men and machine working in tandem to put finishing touches on a bottle carrier built on Tata chassis for 7up Bottling Company, a 15-metre beer carrier for the Nigerian Breweries and another 15-metre truck with refrigerated sealed body operated with remote control.

About five minutes drive away is the plant’s annex dedicated to the assembly of Tata vehicles, especially a range of light trucks, some of which had just rolled of the finish line. The annex also produces assembles Howo Sinotruk heavy duty trailer heads, and constructing trailer bodies, tankers and underground steel tanks.

At yet another IPI annex close by, the General Manager, disclosed that no fewer than 30 units of steel or aluminum boxed bodies can be built on various chassis a day. Some of the finished bodies were built Tata’s Ex2 chassis.

He stressed that the plant has a large clientele of satisfied corporate customers, including breweries and bottling companies who are pleased with IPI’s quality of work and quick delivery policy, especially on the six and 10 pallet carriers.

“We do not make noise. Rather, we let our products speak for us”, Ikegbula said while reacting to the surprise expressed by the visitors who were pleasantly surprised that so much activities were quietly raging at the IPI factories with little or no publicity. We have worked all over the country, and our products can be seen on Nigerian roads, factory buildings and warehouses, several landing jetties, and in the oil industry – upstream filling stations, forecourts, underground tanks, storage depots, and truck bodies”.

One of the leading steel fabricators in Nigeria, IPI commenced business as a structural steel works company and has continued to grow and diversify into all sectors of the steel fabrication industry. IPI is managed by a dedicated team of experts with wide range of experience.