Nissan picks Associated Motor Holdings Kenya in bid to boost sales
Posted on : Monday, 24th November 2014
NISSAN Motor Corporation Senior Vice President Africa , Middle East and India/ South Asia Business, Takashi Hata with the flagship NP300 during the introduction of the New Nissan into the Kenyan market , at their show room over the weekend.
Nairobi; Kenya: Global car maker Nissan has picked Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) Kenya as a partner as it seeks to boost its market share in the country. The new partner is part of the South African Imperial Group. Senior Vice President of Nissan Motor Company and Chairman of the Africa, Middle East and India region Takashi Hata told journalists in Nairobi that this operation started in August this year, but was launched officially this month.
Growth potential "We have identified the East African Community as a market with a significant growth potential. Other countries are Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa and Angola in Southern Africa," said Hata. The partnership aims to revive Nissan's presence in Kenya, to bring products from all over the world to Kenya so that the products meet the customer needs.
According to Hata, the diminished Nissan presence in Kenya was due to insufficient appeal to the market and the distribution was not well weighed. Hata said Nissan has a long heritage in Kenya and it still enjoys a presence in East Africa's economic hub for almost 50 years. The recent opening of a new dealership, Nissan Kenya, with vehicle showrooms and a service facility reflects Nissan's commitment to prioritise its customer experience and service levels as well as the image and the presence of the brand in the Kenyan market.
Hata also said Nissan wants to take over more control of the Kenyan market because the country is a centre hub for business in Africa and will create jobs and improve infrastructure in the country. Products on offer include Nissan's flagship NP200 and NP300 pickups, produced at Nissan South Africa's manufacturing plant. Other new entrants are the Nissan Sentra, replacing the Sunny, the new Qashqai and new Patrol Y62.
