Recession: Toyota imports drop by 90 percent in first quarter

Toyota (Nigeria) Limited said on Thursday that importation of new cars dropped by about 90 per cent between the first quarter of 2016 and 2017 first quarter.

While 3,500 units were imported in 2016 first quarter, only 350 units were imported in the first quarter of 2017 amidst biting recession worsened by the devaluation of naira and scarcity of foreign exchange.

Managing Director of TNL, Mr. Kunle Ade-Ojo who reeled out this figure at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos on Thursday also disclosed that the total retail sale for the first quarter of 2017 stood at 2000 compared to 5,500 sold last year.

Total import in 2015, according to him, was 18,000. It dropped to 7000 in 2016, while Toyota had a share of 43 per cent of the 2015 imports and 38 per cent in 2016.

Despite the drop in sales and importation, he said Toyota grew its share from 24 per cent in 2015 to about 26 per cent in 2016.