Automobile dealers at Africa’s largest automobile market; Berger market are unhappy at the moment as they complain of inadequate parking space for vehicles.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily recently, some of the dealers said that they have lost a large number of their customers due to lack of parking space and heavy traffic along the road leading to the market.
They also said that people now prefer to buy at various warehouses and other auto shops than coming to Berger.
According to a marketer who identified himself as Mr. Poto, there are so many cars he has that are supposed to be on display for prospective buyers but there is no space to do that.
He also said that the situation has made some of them to start selling their vehicles at alternative locations.
“Now one of the major challenges here has to do with parking space for cars, the whole place is filled up. Since we were asked not to be parking cars directly under the bridge, one can hardly see where to park your car for sale. I have a car still in the warehouse; I don’t know where to park it, that has been my reasons not to bring it out. Vehicles are coming in here that is why the spaces we have are very limited. The thing is very frustrating, if there is no place for you to display your vehicles, how will someone see it and buy”
Speaking further, he blamed the appreciation of Dollar against Naira as also another reason for their low sales.
He also said that people might think that now that naira has appreciated, the business will boom but it is not like that.
“There is no market again, sales are very low. People might be thinking that now that Naira is appreciating, that it will boom the sales but it is not like that. The people, who imported the vehicles when the Dollar was very high, still want to sell it at that rate of importation not minding that the rate of Dollar has dropped. So when a buyer comes and you tell him/her the price, they will start telling you that there is reduction in dollar rate. That is the issue we are having here”, he concluded.
In the same vein, another seller who pleaded anonymity said that people selling their vehicles in the warehouse are causing low sales for Berger dealers. “People selling in the warehouse are really affecting our sales here. We stay here almost weeks with little or no sales”, he lamented.
Meanwhile, the President of Berger Automobile Dealers Association; Mr Metche Nnadiekwe, said that, it is not compulsory that everybody must display his vehicle at the Berger automobile market.
He also advised the government that instead of planning to relocate the major automobile market, it should find a way to encourage the dealers as they provide jobs for many unemployed Nigerians.
“Let me start by saying that, it is not compulsory that everybody must sample his vehicles at Berger. If they think there is no space here, they can try other auto markets in other parts of Lagos state to sample their vehicles. There are serious issues to talk about, not that. The major issue is that the government has been planning to move Berger out of this place, but what we are asking is where do they want to move Berger to? They should have at the back of their mind that this Africa’s largest automobile market has given jobs to so many young graduates who would have been involved in one crime or the other. I think what the market needs is support from the government and not the other way round. The government should encourage us not to relocate Berger”, he concluded.
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