17th November, 2011
The management of VON Automobiles Nigeria Limited, owners of rejuvenated VWoN (Volkswagen of Nigeria) assembly plant in Lagos has announced plans to roll out the first batch of locally built Ashok Leyland brand of commuter buses in December 2011, with a promise to assist Nigeria in her quest for rapid socio-economic transformation.
Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran, Managing Director, VON Automobiles Nigeria Limited last week made this declaration in Lagos, when a team of auditors from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) visited the plant to assess the extent of work.  The plant, which has been moribund for over 15 years is currently being rejuvenated and retooled with modern assembly lines to produce the modified Ashok.
The director described the automobile industry as a critical sector that requires fundamental approach, and urged the federal government to support local production and review import tariff polices in favour of vehicle assembly plants, because of their impact on the country’s economy.
While also recalling that the company inherited mere carcass of the moribund Volkswagen plant, Mr. Aromolaran said: “We have since August 2011 been working round the clock to revamp the decrepit remains of the company to elevate its status to the desired standard for a bus assembly.â€
He said the resuscitated plant has attained 75 per cent completion and would be ready in few weeks to roll out the first batch of made-in-Nigeria Ashok Leyland commercial vehicles from completely knockdown components. He added that the company’s marketing team has commenced upbeat marketing strategies to exploit markets in the Economic Community of West African States to boost capacity utilization of the Lagos-based plant.
VON Automobiles has installed capacity for 1,000 buses annually and is capable of providing job opportunities for various technicians and artisans. The management of the plant has already commenced talks with local content producers to supply locally made components in a scheduled phase substitution of imported components from Ashok Leyland India, the plant director affirmed.