Nissan South Africa Pty Ltd is an
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
manufacturer based in
Rosslyn,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, and a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
.
History
In the 1960s, the brothers Thys and Andries Bekker imported the first
Datsun 1000 pick-up to South Africa.
[M. Compton/ T. J. Gallwey]
Motor Assemblies Limited. A small South African Assembly Plant that became a major Manufacturer
2009.
In 1965, the assembly of Datsun automobiles began at Motor Assemblies.
The
Datsun 1200
The is an automobile built by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2006. In the early 1980s, the brand changed from Datsun to Nissan in line with other models by the company. Although production of the Sunny in Japan ended in 2006, the na ...
was the first Japanese passenger car to be imported in South Africa in 1966.
Other sources cite the year 1959.
["South African Automotive Policy Evolution", in: , S. 6271.]
Rosslyn Motor Assemblers
After the assembly plant Motor Assemblies, in which models of different brands were produced, was taken over by Toyota end of 1964, it came to the founding of the ''Rosslyn Motor Assemblers Ltd.'' and to the construction of an assembly plant mainly for Datsun models in
Rosslyn.
Opened in 1966, the factory was initially a free assembly plant for the South African market, as the Bekker brothers awarded the Nissan concession to the mining company ''Messina Transvaal'', which was interested in a greater diversification of the assembly.
Other sources name the year 1965 as the opening year.
Renamings
The company was renamed Datsun Nissan South Africa Ltd. in 1973 and, according to one source, focused on the sole production of Nissan products sold under the Datsun brand.
[Waclaw Pózar/Eligiusz Mazur (Hg.), ''World of Cars'' 2005/2006, (PDF, 21 MB).] Ten years later (1983) the name of the company was changed to Nissan SA.
Automakers SA
With the start of production of the
Fiat Uno in 1988, a new parent company called ''Automakers SA Ltd.'' was founded.
[Rechard Noor]
Systems approach to decentralising power for organisational effectiveness
Kapstadt 1997. This company was located in
Sandton
Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...
. In one source, this company is also referred to as ''Nissan Automakers SA''.
In the year 2000 (or already 1997
[, Pressemitteilung der Nissan Motor Company vom 21. September 1998.]),
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
acquired a 37% stake in Automakers SA Ltd. One year later, the name was changed to ''Nissan South Africa Pty. Ltd.''.
The Rosslyn plant employs around 2,000 people.
Models
In addition to Datsun models that were produced between 1967 and 1973, vehicles of the
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
brand were also produced. Added to this were
Rambler vehicles
Rambler or Ramble may refer to:
Places
* Rambler, Wyoming
* Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽), separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong
* The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, an area within New York City's Centra ...
(January 1968 to 1969) and Renault models (from 1968).
In the next few years, the product range was supplemented by vehicles from the brands
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
and
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
.
From 1971 to 2008, the pick-up model
Nissan 1400 was built exclusively in South Africa (initially as Datsun 1200, then as Datsun 120Y or 1400).
[Henrie Geyser]
Nissan's little champ bows out
in: BizCommunity vom 21. Juli 2008.[Nissan celebrates as NP200 keeps Rosslyn plant humming](_blank)
Artikel vom 2. Februar 2015. In total, around 275,000 copies of the Nissan 1400 were sold.
Other models made only in South Africa were the Datsun 140Z (mid-1970s) and the
Datsun 160Z
The Datsun brand automobile is owned and produced by Nissan. The name originated in 1931 when Dat Motorcar Company came out with a new smaller version of their original car. The company named this car "Datson", but when Nissan bought out the compan ...
(1978-1980).
From 1990 (or 1988) to 2005, the
Fiat Uno was manufactured.
The end of production is also stated in 2004.
Other Fiat models produced by Nissan South Africa have been the
Fiat Palio
The Fiat Palio is a supermini car which was produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1996 until 2018. It is a world car, developed by Fiat Automóveis and aimed at developing countries. It has been produced in various countries worldwid ...
(since 1999), the
Fiat Siena
The Fiat Siena is a subcompact car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1996 to 2022. It is the four-door sedan version of the Fiat Palio, a supermini car especially designed for developing countries. It was introduced for the first t ...
(since 2000) and the
Fiat Strada
The Fiat Strada is a supermini coupé utility produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat since 1998. It is based on Fiat's world car "project 178", the Palio. It is produced by Fiat Automóveis in Brazil, and has been marketed worldwide, exclud ...
(since 2005).
The assembly agreement with Fiat was due to expire in 2008.
![Datsun 160z Profile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Datsun_160z_Profile.jpg)
The production of
Nissan Primera
The is a Mid-size car, large family car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1990 to 2007, for the markets in Japan and Europe. In Japan, it replaced the Nissan Stanza, Auster/Stanza, and was exclusive to ''Nissan Motor Comp ...
began in the late 1990s.
The pickup models NP200 and NP300 as well as the
Nissan Livina
The Nissan Livina is an Minivan, MPV model produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan. It was introduced in July 2006 by Dongfeng Nissan at the Auto Guangzhou, Guangzhou International Motor Show and went on sale in December 2006. Sh ...
and the
Sandero of the Alliance partner
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
are currently under construction.
[Nissan South Africa: Taking South African productivity to the world’s markets](_blank)
Meldung auf ''the SA mag''.[, Pressemitteilung der Nissan Motor Corporation vom 25. Februar 2013.]
In the years 1976 to 1978 (or 1976 and 1978
), with its brand ''Datsun'', Nissan was the leading supplier in South Africa.
In 2014, Nissan had the second largest market share in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa).
[Liezel Hill /
Matthew Winkler]
Nissan Plans to Double South Africa Output With New Model
Meldung auf Bloomberg.com vom 11. November 2015.
Current Models
*
Nissan Almera
The Nissan Almera is a line of automobiles that has been manufactured by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 1995. For its early generations, the Almera is a compact car (C-segment), essentially being the European export-market version ...
(Third Generation)
*
Nissan X-Trail
The is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2000. Since its introduction, the X-Trail is positioned below the truck-based Xterra and Pathfinder.
Since the third-generation model, the X-Trail became the same ve ...
(Third Generation)
*
Nissan Magnite
*
Nissan NP200
The Dacia Logan is a family of automobiles produced and marketed jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its Romanian subsidiary Dacia since mid-2004, and was the successor to the Dacia 1310 and Dacia Solenza. It has been produced as a ...
*
Nissan Navara
The Nissan Navara is a nameplate used for Nissan pickup trucks with D21, D22, D40 and D23 model codes. The nameplate has been used in Australia, New Zealand, Central America, South America, Asia, Europe, and South Africa. In North, Central a ...
*
Nissan Magnite
*
Nissan Patrol
The is a series of full-size SUVs manufactured by Nissan in Japan and sold throughout the world.
The Patrol has been available as either a short-wheelbase (SWB) three-door or a long-wheelbase (LWB) five-door chassis since 1951. The LWB versio ...
Upcoming Models
There's only one Nissan model that was confirmed to be released in the South African market
*
Nissan Qashqai
The Nissan Qashqai () is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) developed and produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2006. The first generation of the vehicle was sold under the name in Japan and Australia, and Qashqai in other marke ...
References
External links
*
{{Automotive industry in South Africa
Nissan
Car manufacturers of South Africa
Manufacturing companies based in the City of Tshwane
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1966
1966 establishments in South Africa
South African subsidiaries of foreign companies