MD, PAN, Alhaji Shehu Dauda

By  John Shiklam 

Nigeria’s leading automobile company, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) Limited, has concluded plans to diversify its brand portfolio which will see to the mass production of the ALSVIN model, a brand of the Chongqing Changan Automobile China.

This, according to the company’s acting Head Corporate Communications, Mallam Musa Bashir Usman, in a statement in Kaduna, follows the signing of a technical agreement between PAN Limited and Changan Automotive Manufacturing Company, brand owners of the ALSVIN.

The brand, which is a B and M1 segment, has three distinguishing attributes: European design, strong Chinese elements of production and time-honoured amenability to the Nigerian terrain.

The statement explained that the deal was struck when the Chairman Board of Directors of PAN Limited, Alhaji Sani Dauda, led top management of the company to China for the historical signing of the agreement in October 2011.

“During an inspection tour of the first set of the Nigerian produced ALSVIN to ascertain the overall readiness of the company, the chairman said PAN will initially produce about 3000 units of the ALSVIN from its Kaduna plant in 2012 with production target expected to increase annually.

“To this end PAN has completed a full scale installation of the factory lines for the production of the ALSVIN – which comes with an engine capacity of 1.5 litres” the statement said.

Managing Director of PAN Limited, Alhaji Shehu Dauda, also said the decision to diversify into a multi-brand was market-driven, as it is hinged on the need to produce affordable vehicles within the reach of the middle class in the Nigeria.

“We have achieved test production of the ALSVIN. We have also exhaustively conducted road test of our production to assess quality and durability which signify our reputation. The results were very favourable as the ALSVIN proved to be very suitable for Nigerian roads”, the statement quoted the managing director as saying.