Stories by Moses Akaigwe           08072100049

Beyond officially blasting off Peugeot’s return to the light trucks market after many years absence, the recent launch of an all-new pick-up in Tunisia is expected to rev up the brand’s drive to reclaim the top spot it lost to the Asian nameplates in Nigeria years ago.

To be available in 4×2 and 4×4 configurations and with a 2.5-litre diesel engine mated to a five-speed gear-box, the double-cabin offering built for Africa is one of the aces PAN Nigeria hopes to play in the market in the next few months. The others will include the latest model of a popular mini bus {with van version} and a multi-award winning SUV.

Peugeot Pick-Up is expected to drive in by the first quarter of 2018, about 12 years after the last unit of the made-in-Nigeria 504 pick-up rolled out of the Kaduna plant.

Commenting on the importance of the impending arrival of Peugeot Pick-Up in the local market, PAN Nigeria Managing Director, Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, disclosed that the absence of the lion brand in the vital light trucks segment over the years, resulted in the loss of a lot of patronage, especially from volume-buyers like government and its agencies, as well as construction firms.

He is, however, hopeful that with the coming of a modern, competitively priced and easy to maintain pick-up, the brand will chalk up a huge share of the sales in the segment, especially since the newcomer is expected to be a class-beater with unique qualities.

“Yes, the new vehicle is extremely important to us at PAN Nigeria as we strive towards our market recovery. You know that there has been high demand for utility vehicles in the market because of our terrain and the needs of construction projects, as well as those of production and distribution companies.

“We have been absent in the segment for years, but we now have a good product that will aid our market recovery and efforts to recoup our leadership”.

Many Peugeot dealers, including the General Manager of Oluwalogbon Motors, Mr. Oladele Ogunsipe, received the news of the birth of a light truck in a similar manner.

Echoing the PAN helmsman’s optimism on the ability of the all-new pick-up to re-enact the huge success recorded in the market by its good old forebears built on 404 and 504 frames, the General Manager predicted betters days ahead for the brand.

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“We are back to real business,” Ogunsipe, who has marketed Peugeot with Oluwalogbon over the past decades, enthused. He explained that with a good mix of favourable factors like the French brand’s sterling reputation in Nigeria, good product and competitive pricing, the all-new pick would be embraced by the market.

He further remarked: “The new Peugeot Pick-Up is the ultimate trail-blazer; the King of the Road is back. In the 60s and 90s, the 404/504 pick-up was the only popular utility vehicle. All others were pretenders. And now, the Lion King is back to reclaim the throne!”

Ogunsipe was not far from the truth, for apart from PAN Nigeria producing Peugeot pick-ups in Kaduna from the mid 70s up to 2005, a division of SCOA Motors also assembled the 404 pick-up in Apapa, Lagos, with CKD sets sourced through the Kaduna plant.

This was at a time the only strong ‘opposition’ was Isuzu Tiger produced at the nearby plant owned by a division of the UAC of Nigeria – Federated Motor Industries Ltd {FMI} located on Creek Road, Apapa.

Not leaving anything to chance in its quest to reclaim its leadership position, Boyi explained that PAN was desirous of ensuring that Nigeria would be among the first markets in Africa to launch the new pick-up.

He also hinted that as part of the efforts to leverage on the vehicle’s presence in the strategic segment and consolidate on the brand’s position in the market generally, PAN would be beefing up its after-sales network technically.

Specifically, according to him, the company intends to update the skills of the dealers’ after-sales technicians by way of training programmes that will enable them handle the diesel engines efficiently.

Along with the Peugeot representative in the West African market, Mr. Eric Maydieu, and yours sincerely, the PAN Managing Director, test-drove the new pick-up over 70 kilomtres in Tunis, Tunisia, as part of the formal unveiling of the pick-up by Peugeot.

And, the light tuck gave more than an impressive account of itself, in terms of take-off and the response of the diesel engine to acceleration, which was almost as good as a typical petrol engine performance. Transition from one gear to the next was as smooth as it should. Ditto for stability and of handling of the vehicle.