By Khulekani Dumisa

The refreshed Nissan Navara has seen the fortunes of the bakkie improve locally. To date, the bakkie has picked up momentum with Nissan selling over 2,000 units since launch in July. This might not seem like much with the market leader easily picking up nearly twice as much sales in one month but the near 500 units a month average is good news for the locally made bakkie that was nowhere to be seen on the sales charts only a few months ago.

Single cab resurgence

In fact, by moving 617 units last month, the Navara outsold the evergreen NP200 which brought in 589 sales. Nissan attributes some of its growth to decent Navara single cab sales. The Japanese marquee moved just over 300 of those in October.

“The success of the new Navara is mainly owed to two things, its value proposition and the fact that is it produced right here at home – made with the South African consumer top of mind”, said Charl Timms, Sales & Operations Director at Nissan South Africa. ”We have been tracking a positive, and organic, month-to-month growth since launch. Currently, Nissan has a market share of 13.4%, which positions us right up to our target.”