FROM SELLING SPARE PARTS TO BEING THE WORLD'S FIRST BLACK CAR MANUFACTURER, INNOCENT CHUKWUMA

FROM SELLING SPARE PARTS TO BEING THE WORLD'S FIRST BLACK CAR MANUFACTURER, INNOCENT CHUKWUMA.

He is the founder of Innoson motors. Mr Chukwuma hails from Nnewi, Anambra state, Nigeria. The 46-year-old man built his vehicle manufacturing plant with N3,000 he got from his brother. Today he has a multi-billion naira business.

He started his business at age 30 by selling motor spare parts and graduated into selling complete motorcycles.

He crashed the sales price of the motorcycles after he improvised a means of importing 220 units via a container instead of the habitual 40 units (which resulted from negotiation with his manufacturers to knock down parts of the motorcycle to facilitate more of them in one container).

Subsequently, he could save what he could have paid for extra containers. The business surged as a result of cheaper rates. He had to clear 200 containers in a month because of the high demand.

He observed the motorcycle has a lot of plastic components. Soon he started his plastic producing company to produce the plastic component of the motorcycle. Later started producing tyres, for vehicles, motorcycles, and tricycle alongside plastic items like chair upholstery etc.

He broke even as he dazed the world with automobile manufacturing here in Nigeria.

According to him, he took about seven years after the motorcycle invention to start up his vehicle plant commissioned by the former president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Irrespective of the challenges of manufacturing in Nigeria, Innoson motors manufactures different types of vehicle which include pick-up vans, buses, Sports Utility Vans (SUV), tricycles (Keke Napep).

Having gone this far to building a reputation for himself and Nigeria at large, he urges Nigerians to learn to be patient and be patriotic enough to patronise made in Nigeria vehicles.