Name of the Project
Nissan all-new Navara production project.

Location
Rosslyn, Pretoria, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Nissan South Africa (SA).

Project Description
Nissan is preparing its Rosslyn facility to produce the NEXT-generation Nissan Navara pickup, including the single- and double-cab models.

The Navara will join the NP200 model, which is built at Rosslyn, and sold in the domestic market and up to 42 Pan-African countries.

The investment in production will result in further modernisation of the Rosslyn plant, including a new, flexible production line and additional facilities.

The new Nissan Navara will boost the Rosslyn facility’s production to more than 35 000 cars in the first year, with further export opportunities under study.

Potential Job Creation
In terms of skills development, about R190-million has been invested in reskilling and training employees, such as the development of trial engineers who received virtual training for three months from Nissan Japan on implementing the new model in South Africa.

Nissan SA has also incubated eight new component manufacturers and associated companies from their broad-based black economic-empowerment (BBBEE) startup programme and identified a further 15 that can assist with components for the new Navara.

Capital Expenditure
R3-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Covid-19 realities impacted on local production timelines. As part of Nissan’s promise to keep customers appraised of its developments, the start-of-sales date for the Nissan Navara was postponed to June 2021 for South Africa. The original launch date of the Navara was the first quarter of 2021.

Latest Developments
Nissan SA has started production of the new Navara pickup at its Rosslyn plant, with the first local customers to receive their double-cab units this month.

The plant is operating at one shift, producing 134 units a shift, excluding overtime, but including Navara, NP200 and NP300 production, plant director Shafick Solomons has said.

Full capacity for the Navara line is a daily rate of 43 units, which can, with overtime, increase to 55 units.

Nissan’s plan is to remain with one shift for now, but it will most likely increase its daily production rate later this year as the market develops.

The Rosslyn plant is expected to reach full production for double-cab units this month.

The start of double-cab production for the local market at the plant will be followed by the start of assembly of the higher-specification Navara Pro-4X special adventure edition for the local and sub-Saharan Africa export markets, double-cab production for sub-Saharan Africa export markets and, finally, single-cab production.

All the vehicles are expected be launched this year, with exports to markets in sub-Saharan Africa starting in the third quarter of the year, according to Solomons.

Current local content on the Navara is about 30%, excluding the power train.

“We would like to push that to 40%, if not more,” Solomons has said.

The Rosslyn plant is not currently affected by the global semiconductor shortage, although this might change.

Nissan SA faced several difficulties to bring Navara production online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Local assembly of the new Navara included establishing a new e-coat facility and a new line at the body shop, for example. Owing to travel restrictions and the limited number of people allowed in the plant at any time, these had to be installed by local teams using a range of digital technologies to communicate with support teams in Europe and Japan.

“This was an extremely difficult phase in the project,” says Solomons, “but we surprised everyone with the creativity we demonstrated to make this happen. It also showcased our skills, capabilities and agility. If we didn’t do it, we could have seen a six-month or longer delay in launching the new Navara”.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Nissan SA MD Stefan Haasbroek, tel +27 12 529 6000 or email infodesk@nissan.co.za.