Atleast 1200 permanent jobs will be created when the new Nissan Navara production commences at its Rosslyn, Pretoria in 2020.
Nissan has announced a R3 billion investment in the Rosslyn facility to prepare the plant for production of the next generation Nissan Navara pickup.
The automotive industry has sure been doing their bit to contribute to South Africa’s struggling economy. Earlier this year, Ford Southern Africa also announced similar news with their Silverton plant building both the Ranger and Raptor.
The announcement was made at the Rosslyn plant and attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Peyman Kargar, chairman of Nissan Africa, Middle East and India region (AMI) and Mike Whitfield, Managing Director for the Nissan South Africa.
President Ramaphosa thanked Nissan for always being a supportive partner and expressed that
“Automotive industry is already the largest part of South Africa’s manufacturing sector, contributing around 7.0% GDP annually and accounting for a third of manufacturing output. I am delighted that Nissan will produce Navara here and congratulate the employees for their efforts in securing this important model.”
Whitfield said that when the President said “thuma mina” back in 2018, Nissan listened to that call and this is their way of doing so. “The new Navara is the perfect model for South Africa and our workforce is ready to build it, supported crucially by the government’s Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP). Vehicles already account for around 14% of total exports from South Africa. Navara production will allow us to expand Rosslyn’s role as an export hub for Light Commercial Vehicles and contribute further to the local automotive sector, fully in line with the goals in the next phase of the APDP.”
