Nigerians are an interesting set of people and their mode of thinking and lifestyle is reflected in everything that they do, including the cars that they drive.

The ideal Nigerian car is that vehicle that perfectly fits the Nigerian mode of thinking, lifestyle and the Nigerian environment.

This car is one that would perfectly blend into the ideals, roads, drivers’ mannerisms and many other things that are distinct in the Nigerian setting.

Huh… Sounds quite interesting.

Let us examine the features of the Nigerian car.

1. Built for the Nigerian roads
It is a known fact that several parts of the country have really bad roads. For the ideal Nigerian car, it has been designed to survive under such conditions with minimal effort. Some of the features that this car would have would include:

- Very good ground clearance: Ground clearance is simply the distance between the lowest point of the car and the ground. The average Nigerian road is bumpy. It has potholes that need to be navigated with precision, accuracy and finesse. You take 6 inches of ground clearance here and you and your car could be in a lot of trouble on such roads. With this, we rule out sedans and most hatchbacks from our list.

- Four wheel drive: You see, on the Nigerian road, there could be rain and mud and you get into a large-mini-lake! Oh, you don’t want your car sinking here. It just has to be 4WD!

- Good headlights: Many roads do not have street lights, so maybe a Genesis G90 headlamp or Lexus NX range or higher would be good here.

2. Built for the Nigerian mind
The Nigerian mind is ever calculating. Nigerians hate to be slowed down. They hate having to be still or wait for traffic. So, except there is no way out, the average Nigerian is looking for the next fastest lane in traffic or the shortest possible route. So, the ideal Nigerian car must:

- Easy to maneuver: The drive and handling must be smooth, because that driver might need to make a crazy turn in the moment. That car has to be ready for it.

- Moderate sized: fitting into small spaces in traffic would be difficult for big cars; maybe a moderate sized SUV size or lesser

- Fast: When Nigerians have the opportunity to, they want to move very fast and with good 0-60 mph time. Once the traffic moves, you want to move as fast as possible! And yes, the would not want to get to their destinations late!

3. Built for the Nigerian pocket
Haha! This is a very important part of the drill. The economy is not as friendly as it should be. Many are unemployed or under-employed and so cannot afford so much. However, they want to drive a car. Every family wants to own one.

- Pocket friendly: The minimum wage is 18,000 naira. A family that wants to buy one should be able to save for it over a period of say maybe 2 -3 years to buy it.

- Fuel efficient: As loud as loud can be! No money to waste on buying fuel, plus staying in traffic for long hours would add to the cost. Again, there are days when there is fuel scarcity; the car has to be built for this too!

- Easy access to spare parts and low cost of repair: The ideal Nigerian car has to be one whose parts are readily accessible and knowledge of its repair is also available to local mechanics and car dealers.

- Very durable: Many Nigerian cars are used by their families for years before they are replaced or sold. It is therefore important that they must be built to last.

- Give you less 'wahala'! Nigerians don’t want a car that would require servicing or repairs often. Most have a ‘not-so-good’ maintenance culture that means they only service when the car starts malfunctioning. So a vehicle that requires constant servicing is a NO NO!

Does such Nigerian car ever exist?
The real question as we conclude this article, is that does the ideal Nigerian car exist? Can we have a model that takes all of these features into consideration and would still be affordable?

Recently, Innoson motors began to manufacture made in Nigeria cars which fits into a lot of these categories, but there is still a long way to go.

Probably the ideal made-in-Nigeria car should have the rugged features of a Jeep, combined with the fuel efficiency and the spare parts accessibility of a Toyota Corolla; plus the ground clearance of maybe the 2017 Toyota Venza; the size and speed of a 2019 Honda CRV; Genesis G90 Headlights and the handling and precise steering of the Mazda CX-5, plus the safety features of the Toyota Rav4!

WOW, so many specs here!!

So who is the next manufacturer that would solve this problem?

>>> Source: https://naijauto.com/market-news/made-in-nigeria-car-5707

Let's see the pictures of the ideal Nigerian car

Nigeria missed it.
In serious countries with the kind of income level in Nigeria... The kind of cars they build include
1. Golf MK1
2. Golf MK2
3. Citi Golf
4. Toyota Corolla 1997
If in doubt I'll mention such countries that still build such cars

The Citi Golf below was produced in 2008

sweetonugbu:
Let's see the pictures of the ideal Nigerian car

That's what I wanted to make bro Any Nairalander can help me?

When it suit peoples mind they'll look for it!

MoboCar:


That's what I wanted to make bro Any Nairalander can help me?

ok

Innoson probably has researchers, analysts that have looked at the Nigerian market and decided to build the current cars that you see.

Smartchoiice:
Nigeria missed it.
In serious countries with the kind of income level in Nigeria... The kind of cars they build include
1. Golf MK1
2. Golf MK2
3. Citi Golf
4. Toyota Corolla 1997
If in doubt I'll mention such countries that still build such cars

The Citi Golf below was produced in 2008

Golf and Toyota are not made in countries with low income level. The last time we checked, VW is made in Germany and Toyota in Japan, US etc. But I get your point but your example doesn't match.

Build same types of cars and people will still buy Toyota's corrolas etc.

And again, given our economy and exchange rate, no brand new car can be less than 2.5million Naira.

Lol....

What's with the name calling?

SHADY AND UNRELIABLE

Op, you tried

The idea car for Nigerians is the type of car that has strong body, high good for bad roads

Smartchoiice:
Nigeria missed it.
In serious countries with the kind of income level in Nigeria... The kind of cars they build include
1. Golf MK1
2. Golf MK2
3. Citi Golf
4. Toyota Corolla 1997
If in doubt I'll mention such countries that still build such cars

The Citi Golf below was produced in 2008

If you drive this Citi Golf in Nigeria... people will avoid you

Hmmmm

Tonymegabush1:
The idea car for Nigerians is the type of car that has strong body, high good for bad roads

A Jeep should do it, but it doesn't have so great spare part availability and affordable maintenance cost

All these specs disguised as constraints isn't ideal for the Nigerian pocket - the master constraint, which leaves the whole Nigerian Car dream as just a fantasy