Goodbye Nissan NP200

FiestaST said:
The is a big difference from starting with a base RHD car/vehicle & adjusting to meet a price point.

This bak is LHD-only, that adds more complexity, definitely not impossible but feasibility & all that jazz.
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Isn't the point of being a big automaker like VAG that you have a lot of common platforms to build on? Surely they could bolt the body work onto a Polo base or whatever it's based on.
 
GhostSixFour said:
Isn't the point of being a big automaker like VAG that you have a lot of common platforms to build on? Surely they could bolt the body work onto a Polo base or whatever it's based on.
Click to expand...
It’s not that simple afaik & we established the main reason is the feasibility of the exercise.The cost of the tooling, conversion & all vs possible likely sales volume.
 
FiestaST said:
It’s not that simple afaik & we established the main reason is the feasibility of the exercise.The cost of the tooling, conversion & all vs possible likely sales volume.
Click to expand...

So it's based on the common platform for the polo up to 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_A0_platform

Which was sold in SA. So I really don't see why they can use the polo underpinnings for right hand drive and then just stick the body on it. There shouldn't be much tooling or conversion happening.
Granted, I'm an idiot. So there will be stuff I've missed, in my mind though, it really should be a plug and play with different parts. Take the dash and front doors from a polo in SA and bolt it to the body panel from the Saviero. Job done. Otherwise, what's the point of basing it off of a common platform.

The pessimist in me says that this purely a "sales driven" problem, in the sense that they are making more profit off of selling the caddy in it's current guise. Or something along those lines.
 
Nissan SA opens up about aborted NP200 replacement, future plans for Rosslyn plant

The future of Nissan South Africa’s Rosslyn plant near Pretoria has been the subject of speculation recently.

This follows the announcement back in August that the NP200 compact bakkie would be discontinued in March 2024, following an extended life cycle of 16 years (read our original story here).

Given that no direct replacement has been confirmed for the half-tonne bakkie, this would result in substantially reduced production volumes at the Gauteng plant as around 1,000 NP200s are produced there each month.

Unfortunately, Nissan South Africa has confirmed that it has entered into a formal consultation phase to restructure the business, which is likely to result in employee layoffs.

Interestingly, Nissan SA also confirmed that an “immediate” replacement for the NP200 was going to be built “on an Alliance shared platform” in Russia, but these plans were shelved after the Russia-Ukraine conflict apparently made the model unviable.

Nissan pulled out of the Russian market in October 2022, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year, and its assets were sold off to a local partner called NAMI.

Second model for Rosslyn production?

For now Nissan South Africa says it continues to produce the Navara bakkie at the local plant, and is planning model upgrades as well as an increase in exports.

However it’s unlikely that this could come close to plugging the production gap left by the NP200, even if the company did manage to improve on the current sales performance.

 
Nissan South Africa restructures: leadership change, more models from India

Nissan South Africa faces a challenging road ahead following its decision to discontinue the NP200 bakkie in March 2024, but the local division’s new leadership remains optimistic about the future.

The locally-built NP200 is currently its best-selling model, accounting for SA sales in excess of 1,000 units per month, and its demise means the company needs to restructure.

This, according to Nissan SA, is likely to lead to the loss of around 400 jobs through an S189 process, which is about a quarter of the local workforce. The restructure will take place at both factory and corporate levels, the company said, and should be finalised by March next year.

The local division is also set for a leadership change, with current SA Country Director Kabelo Rabotho stepping down in order to further personal interests.

Rabotho has been replaced by Maciej Klenkiewicz who in addition to serving as the local MD, also takes responsibility for Africa’s ‘Independent Markets.’

 
Insight from Tokyo Show: Nissan SA plant still ‘very much’ part of future plans

With the local Nissan Rosslyn plant currently in turmoil with the imminent demise of the NP200 bakkie next year and hundreds of staff members facing retrenchment, Nissan Global CEO Makoto Uchida says the plant is still very much part of the Nissan Global plan.

Currently the facility manufactures the Nissan Navara bakkie for local consumption and export into Africa and the NP200 which means when its run ends it will only be making one vehicle.

Speaking at the Japan Mobility Show Uchida said that it fits into their plans as part of expanding the journey of the company.

Without divulging any specific details of what can be expected going forward he said: “Yes in South Africa and Africa we are looking at a lot of potential but we need to be prepared for the future and we are looking at what can be done in the region and what the plans for the expansion of the Africa region is, so yes for us it’s very important.”

As the first company to introduce a fully electric mass produced car with the Nissan Leaf the company is obviously building on that success with battery electric vehicles (BEV) and their e-power very much at the forefront of development going forward.


Also:

October 2023 vehicle sales wrap - Top 20 brands, Top 50 models

50 Best-selling vehicles in South Africa: October 2023

1. Toyota Hilux - 3,110
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo - 2,280
3. Toyota Corolla Cross - 2,100
4. Ford Ranger - 1,853
5. Toyota Hi-Ace - 1,496
6. Isuzu D-Max - 1,464
7. Toyota Starlet - 1,363
8. Suzuki Swift - 1,248
9. Volkswagen Polo - 1,235
10. Nissan NP200 - 961

 
New Nissan half-tonne bakkie still on the cards

Nissan in Latin America has confirmed it continues to develop a new half-tonne bakkie, adding that the fresh model will be based on a Renault product. NP200 successor, anyone?

Back in early 2023, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance announced plans to create a new half-tonne bakkie, developed by Renault and shared with Nissan. Of course, plenty has happened since then, including Nissan South Africa entering a “formal consultation phase to restructure the business” as it seeks a replacement for the NP200 that will go out of production in March 2024.

But a new Nissan-badged half-tonner remains on the cards – in some parts of the world, anyway. Nissan’s Latin American division recently confirmed it planned to “enrich” its product line-up, telling the Brazilian Motor1.com website it would utilise Renault’s “expertise” in the half-tonne segment.

Nissan pointed to the Niagara concept as an example of its alliance partner’s prowess in this unibody-bakkie segment, though Renault obviously also produces the Duster-based Oroch. As a reminder, the Oroch – which was long been in the planning for a South African introduction but still hasn’t materialised – was handed another facelift in 2022.

According to the Motor1.com report, the upcoming new-generation Oroch (if it continues to wear that badge, of course) will form the basis for the aforementioned new Nissan half-tonner, with both running on the Alliance’s CMF-B platform. Production is likely to take place in Argentina.

 
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