Nissan marks 60 years in Kenya

After 60 years in Kenya and East Africa, Nissan Group of Africa’s head of operations and sales Jim Dando has told government, business and media leaders here, the Japanese automotive manufacturer is proud of this unique legacy.

He announced a raft of new initiatives, and introduced the Nissan Navara; a vehicle purposely built and spec’d for Africa.

Speaking at the inaugural Nissan Experience held in Nairobi’s world-famous national park, Dando said the automotive giant was expanding its presence in Kenya, “Nissan Kenya is our official partner in country, with full sales, spares and service dealerships in Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru with one under construction in Kisumu. We also have a further nine sub-contracted dealerships.”

Dando said the company remained fully committed to working with the government of Kenya to create a legislative environment conducive to assembling vehicles in the country once more. Nissan will be co-hosting the inaugural Kenya Automotive Summit in May, which Dando described as “a critical event on the road to understanding and unpacking the challenges of creating sustainable and internationally competitive indigenous African automotive industries”.

Further proof of Nissan’s commitment in East Africa, Dando said, was the fact the company had opted to site its regional East African office here in Nairobi with a locally based regional general manager to ensure real time, involved and on the ground management.

“This is a country where the minibus taxis are still known as Nissans, whether they are or aren’t. It just illustrates a single aspect of our incredible legacy here which we are all immensely proud of and very keen to build on for everyone’s benefit.”