Nissan ready to go bullish in Nigeria

Nissan has celebrated the opening of a new state-of-the-art dealership in Victoria Island. Owned by a subsidiary of the Stallion Group, Nissan’s distribution and manufacturing partner in Nigeria, the ultra-modern showroom is the first of its kind in the country.

The new Victoria Island showroom brings to 11 the number of Nissan dealerships in Nigeria, a demonstration of the Japanese automaker’s commitment to increase brand visibility in Africa’s most populous country.

“Nigeria is one of the most important markets in our Africa growth strategy, part of which is a strong Nissan dealer network,” said Mike Whitfield, managing director of Nissan South Africa and president of Nissan’s Africa Region South business unit, incorporating markets in Sub Saharan Africa.

He said: “We are delighted to attend the opening of the Victoria Island dealership, offering a customer experience in keeping with our ‘Innovation that Excites’ brand promise.”

Whitfield said: “We intend to increase our market share to 13% during the current financial year, driven mainly by sales in the pickup segment,” Whitfield added.

On his part, Jim Dando, general manager, Sub-Sahara Region, Nissan South Africa – Africa Region South applauded Nigeria’s new automotive policy saying: “This policy will form the basis on which major manufacturers will invest in manufacturing plants and local equipment manufacturing.”

He said Stallion has moved our market share from 4% to more than 10% in our last fiscal year adding that “We worked side by side to achieve this goal and within Nissan we have a strong desire to contribute to rebuilding industrialisation in Nigeria and be contributors to the growth of the manufacturing sector.

Stallion NMN managing director Parvir Singh however described the new 3S facility as “futuristic”, and unparalleled in Nigeria. “Our Victoria Island dealership meets the standards of Nissan’s global corporate identity, currently being rolled out across the Nissan dealership network worldwide,” said Singh.

The 3S (sales, service and spares) facility, occupying 900 square metres, features  a canteen, quick service facility, conference room and upper floor display area showcasing Nissan’s range of locally-produced and imported passenger, sports utility, crossover and light commercial vehicles. They include the popular Nissan Almera, Qashqai and NV350 Urvan, as well as a new offering from the United States, the D40 Frontier.

An expanded dealership network in Nigeria is another indication of Nissan’s commitment to the country and the West African region. It follows the establishment in 2013 of a Lagos-based assembly plant in partnership with the Stallion Group.

The plant, which produces an average of 200 units a month, assembles the Nissan Patrol, Almera and NP300 for the local market. It will shortly start production of the Urvan E26 light commercial vehicle.

Nissan’s Africa Growth strategy drives Nissan’s ambition to become a leading automotive brand on the continent aiming for an overall 10% market share by 2017, supported by sales of 200,000 units.