Roy Cokayne
Nissan South Africa has aggressive vehicle sales growth targets in Africa in line with its plans to double production at its plant in Rosslyn near Pretoria to 100 000 units a year by 2015.
Mike Whitfield, Nissan SA’s managing director, said yesterday that Africa was poised for growth. It had 13 percent of the global population but less than 2 percent of global vehicle sales and would be the next growth region after China.
“We see a lot of potential in Africa and are totally committed to increasing our presence in Africa,” he said.
Whitfield said Nissan’s local operations would continue to export to Europe, Russia and Turkey, in addition to shipments to Africa.
One of the most important elements of the plan in an African context was the aim to expand “mobility for all” through dedicated new cars and light commercial vehicles.
Whitfield said Nissan had an extensive product plan in terms of its new mid-term strategy, Nissan Power 88. Launched in Japan last week, the firm would deliver one new vehicle every six weeks on average during the six years of the plan to 2016.
He said Nissan would launch 51 new models during this period and Africa was a core part of the new product rollout with 12 new products being launched in the market. These models include the new Micra, new 4X4 crossover Juke and new B-segment sedan Almera.
Nissan aimed to increase its market share in Africa to double digits by 2016 from 6.8 percent today. Whitfield declined to comment on whether any of the 12 new models for Africa would be produced in South Africa but confirmed it would be re-entering the taxi market.
“One of the objectives of the Department of Trade and Industry is to promote local production. We are not in the taxi market at the moment but our product offering will enter the taxi market in about a year and a half. Right now it does not make sense to assemble (taxis) locally,” he said.
Toyota South Africa is also considering local production of taxi vehicles.
Whitfield said any new product or production platform required investment but it was premature to talk about “investment numbers” or how many jobs would be created.
The future direction of Nissan’s Rosslyn plant would be a reduction in its production platforms from five to two but with substantially higher volumes.
Jim Dando, the general manager of Nissan Africa Regional Office, said sales of 31 000 units were projected this year in Africa excluding South Africa in terms of its business plan, with about 19 000 units from South Africa.
Dando said sales in Africa excluding South Africa were projected to increase to about 62 000 units in 2015.
Nigeria accounted for about 32 percent of the planned business plan volumes. Other important African markets included Ghana, Angola, Kenya and Mauritius, while the Democratic Republic of Congo was a “wild card” because of inconsistent orders.
He said Nissan’s growth strategy in Africa also included the expansion of its dealer networks, improvement in its after sales service and customer service, and a reduction over time in the price of certain replacement parts.