Nissan South Africa faces a challenging road ahead following its decision to discontinue the NP200 bakkie in March 2024, but the local division’s new leadership remains optimistic about the future.
The locally-built NP200 is currently its best-selling model, accounting for SA sales in excess of 1,000 units per month, and its demise means the company needs to restructure.
This, according to Nissan SA, is likely to lead to the loss of around 400 jobs through an S189 process, which is about a quarter of the local workforce. The restructure will take place at both factory and corporate levels, the company said, and should be finalised by March next year.
The local division is also set for a leadership change, with current SA Country Director Kabelo Rabotho stepping down in order to further personal interests.
Rabotho has been replaced by Maciej Klenkiewicz who in addition to serving as the local MD, also takes responsibility for Africa’s ‘Independent Markets.’
Long-standing Nissan SA stalwart Mike Whitfield, who was replaced by Sherief Eldessouky as Managing Director of Nissan Africa back in April, has since moved to Stellantis South Africa, where he will lead the company into its local manufacturing phase.
Maciej Klenkiewicz, a Polish national who also headed up Nissan’s Central Eastern Europe division, was introduced to South African media at a briefing in Johannesburg last week.
When asked about the company’s ambition to introduce a second locally produced model to plug the void left by Nissan NP200 production, Klenkiewicz said the local division was currently looking at “all opportunities” but warned that given the long lead times for product development, such a project would likely take years.
The new Country Director would not comment on the type of vehicle being considered for local production, but he did state that Nissan SA would be aiming for a greater export reach across Africa with any new model introduced to the Rosslyn assembly line.
He said a second locally produced vehicle was a “key focus” for the company as part of Nissan’s Mid-Term plan for the region.
“I believe we will find the solution. We are open to all opportunities,” Klenkiewicz told local media.
As IOL reported in October, the NP200 was meant to have been replaced by a vehicle developed in conjunction with the company’s Russian division, but the Ukraine war led to Nissan pulling out of Russia, putting paid to the project.
When asked why production of the current NP200 could not have continued beyond 2024, Klenkiewicz said the compact half-tonner’s life cycle had already been extended by a further 18 months. He cited parts supply constraints as a barrier to any further extension as it was not viable for international suppliers to continue producing parts for a relatively low-volume production run in South Africa.
The Nissan NP200 has been on the local market since 2008. Interestingly, Nissan has produced models with a far longer life cycle than that, with the 1400 bakkie having been on the local market for 37 years, while Volkswagen managed to keep the Golf 1 going in Uitenhage (now Kariega) for 31 years.
The NP200’s demise will leave the Nissan Navara as the only model produced at the Gauteng plant.
Klenkiewicz spoke of plans to expand the Navara line-up as part of the 2024 model year update, and the company was also looking to grow its export footprint into other African markets. The local division recently expanded its business to Libya and plans to add Algeria to the export mix in 2024.
This would lead to exports outweighing imports for the local division. In the most recent quarter, Nissan SA sold an average of 381 Navaras per month in South Africa and exported a monthly average of 346 units.
As far as imported models go, the new Country Director said Nissan SA was planning to introduce two new models imported from India by 2026. Although further details remain under wraps for now, he said the new passenger car models would be “highly competitive”.
Nissan SA recently discontinued the Almera sedan and currently the only product sourced from India is the popular Magnite compact SUV. The Magnite range recently became more affordable, and consequently more popular, as non-turbo models were added to the range.