Peugeot Automobile Nigeria

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Many auto technicians in Lagos are notorious for fleecing their clients, making spurious claims to get car owners to part with their possessions after many rounds of fruitless repairs.

As many in Lagos are aware, the mechanics goad the owners into selling their cars on the cheap, since there is no ready mart where such vehicles can be sold.

Not anymore. Car owners in Lagos who want to sell their cars now have a choice to go directly to an auto market, without any recourse to their mechanics.

The new market, operated by First Royal Contractors Ltd. in conjunction with the Mushin Local Government, Lagos, is situated at the popular auto spares Ladipo Market. It operates only on Sundays, when all other traders on that axis are off duty.

The initiator and the managing director of the company, Mr. Kunle Adesegun, says he got the idea of the auto fair/market during his stay in Europe. He mentions specifically that those markets are popular in Holland and Germany. "But they are not necessarily operated on Sundays. I think that of Holland is every Tuesday," he says.

Adesegun, who was the former chairman, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority Monitoring and Complaint Board, states that the market is a veritable platform for the buyers and sellers of cars to meet.

"Before now, people who wanted to sell their used cars went through their mechanics or through referrals," he says.

Adesegun says that the platform is not only for those who want to sell their used cars, he adds that Tokunbo car dealers also have opportunity to display their cars.

He states, "It's a free auto fair where those who want to sell their used cars can drive them down here on Sunday morning, park them with us and go to church or wherever they are going. Some are even sold before their owners return. And those ones not sold, their owners take them back home.

"Same thing goes for the Tokunbo cars. However, those who want us to keep the cars in our custody, may be due to distance of where they come from, we keep them free for them for one week. After one week, it attracts some fees."

Adesegun notes that the market is not for people to just bring any kind of junk and display.

He explains, "Before you bring any vehicle for display you must bring it to our office, we have an auto valuer, who will look at the mileage such vehicle has covered, the body and other necessary components. If any vehicle does not meet our standard, we reject it.

"Again, we guard against anyone that may want to bring in stolen vehicle for us to sell. We work with the police and other necessary agencies, who check all the particulars and ensure that there are no contradictions in all the vital information provided."

Adesegun says that he kicked off the programme last November with close to 500 cars, which he explains were brought in by Tokunbo dealers and those who had used cars for sale.

"Since then the market has grown and the demand has equally increased. At times, we display over 1,000 cars every Sunday," he says.

He notes that the number of vehicles displayed might increase with time, as he is currently discussing with some insurance companies to turn over their 'salvaged cars' to the market.

"Again, another source of sourcing used vehicles is through some companies, which might want to change their pool of cars and replace with new ones," he explains.

Adesegun also intends to get Tokunbo cars from Europe to beef up the market.

But how does he make money from this business? "For every car sold, my company is entitled to 5 per cent of the sales price," Adesegun says.

Besides, he also makes money from the prospect forms, which he issues to those who are still prospecting for different particular brands of cars and the range of prices they could offer. "It is a market, where you can get a used car for as low as N100,000. Someone even bought one Hyundai Stellar brand for N60,000 here recently," he enthuses.

What would be the condition of a car sold for N60,000? our correspondent asks. "The buyer drove the car out of this place," he says, "so that shows the car is still OK."

The chairman, Mushin LG, Mr. Olatunde Adepitan, says that the LG bought into the programme based on the genuine intention of the initiator.

He says, "We are working with the regular policemen and the men of the Operation Mesa to provide security in the area every Sunday, in order to ward off hoodlums and others with devilish intentions.

"We equally collaborate with the management of the Autoreg to ensure that the registration of the vehicle is in order and to prevent people from bringing stolen vehicle to the place to sell.

"The market is still in its infancy, but as time goes on and it grows, we see it as one of the sources of adding to our internally generated revenue."

There have been reactions to the existence of this auto fair. A trader, Mr. Emmanuel Oludare, commends Adesegun for introducing this kind of market. "It means that with just N100,000, I can go there and bring home a car."

Mrs. Adepoju, who is equally in this category, says that the mart has given her the hope of restoring her car, which she had sold for N28,000. She intends to buy another used Toyota brand, which costs a little above N350,000.

However a marketing communication expert, Mr. Timothy Adeosun, pleads for a proper scrutiny of the vehicles and the particulars of such vehicles. "Though the idea is OK, I recommend that the security agents be involved to ensure that no stolen vehicles are brought to the market," he says.

When our correspondent called the PPRO, Lagos State Command, Mr. Frank Mba, whether or not he was aware of the existence of the Sunday-Sunday auto fair, he appears to be at a loss over it. But he asked our correspondent to text whatever questions he wanted answered concerning the market and promised to forward them to both the commandant, Area D and the DPO, Olosan Police Station, Mushin. "Whatever they say, I will get back to you," he adds.