Nissan South Africa To Increase Production Capacity by 2014

With approval from its parent company, Nissan Motor Company Limited, Nissan South Africa (Nissan SA) is planning to increase its Rosslyn-based plant to 100,000 units a year.

The increase which is set to begin at the later part of 2014 will feature a rise in the company production of new pick-up generation from Nissan. The production capacity has already increased at the Rosslyn plant to 50,000 from its production capacity of 25,000 in 2008.

The commencement of Nissan SA production will create approximately 800 new jobs directly and about 4 000 more through the supply chain.

 According to Nissan SA Managing Director, Mike Whitfield, the introduction of the new investment will result in a new production platform at the plant with a total investment cost of more than 1billion rand ($121 million).
The automobile company is ramping up its production market to meet consumer’s need globally by using the Rosslyn plant in South Africa as a key manufacturing player especially in light of the growth opportunities in Africa.
Meanwhile, Whitfield noted that Africa is regarded as a huge opportunity by vehicle manufacturers not only because it had about 16 percent of the world’s population, but for its credibility in accounting for more than 1 percent of total industry new vehicle volumes.

“Nissan South Africa has demonstrated its competence in key deliverables — improvements in quality, cost and productivity — and we are confident in its capability to meet anticipated demand, and increased production is expected to during financial year 2014,” stated Whitfield.

He said that growth in vehicle sales is expected to come out of North Africa and South Africa.