Nissan posts record global sales

Pretoria – ''Nissan achieved record results in both global production and sales in the January-June 2017 period," says executive vice president Daniele Schillaci, Nissan's global head of marketing and sales.

Schillaci sad: "Our core models, such as the Rogue in the US, the Qashqai in Europe and the Sylphy in China, drove strong sales.

"In Japan, the Note e-POWER launched last year and became the top-selling compact car in the first half of calendar year 2017. We will maintain this growth momentum in the second half of the year as we launch the new Nissan Leaf."

In South Africa, there was marginal improvement in new vehicle sales during June 2017 with overall industry growth of 0.9%. However, sales of bakkies, panel vans and minibuses were up 8% to a total of 14 278. Nissan sold 1067 NP200s, 1130 NP300s and 137 Navaras locally.

Local production 

Nissan SA says it's optimistic about the future of the automotive manufacturing industry in the country.

Nissan SA’s managing director of manufacturing, Joan Busquets, said: "We are investing in innovative technologies and new plant infrastructure at our Rosslyn plant to ensure our vehicles always meet global standards in terms of quality and cost."

To help achieve the South African government’s plans, under the Automotive Production and Development Programme, to produce 900,000 vehicles per year by 2020, Nissan SA has invested in skills training to address the shortage of skilled engineers and machine operators.

“Nissan SA is introducing on-site suppliers which will also have the added benefits of reducing logistics time and cost. Also in the pipeline is a Nissan Incubation Centre to assist small black-owned businesses to get a foot in the door of the auto supply chain,” said Busquet.