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 ...

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.),

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. Nissan 1400 B140 Bakkie

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
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

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
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