Datsun May See African Expansion
August 23rd, 2012 11:46 AM
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Datsun’s association with Africa might be best linked with the East African Safari rally – but 42 years later, Datsun could return to the continent, though not in a motorsports capacity.
As Nissan’s new “low-cost” brand, Datsun will be sold in markets like Indonesia, Russia and China. Africa might be another market for the brand, as Nissan looks to expand in countries like South Africa.
According to Automotive News, Nissan produces 90,000 cars a year in Africa, with 50,000 being produced in South Africa. But the cheapest car Nissan sells in the country, the B-segment Micra, sells for about $13,000, where 40 percent of the population lives on less than $3 a year. Nissan is looking to double capacity in South Africa.
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$3 a day, not $3 a year. And that's not getting into the wealth disparity between urban and rural areas. East Africa is used JDM Toyota country, mostly through the used Dubai market. Cheap new cars, especially cars like the Micra, are just plain silly in most of Africa, even in the most urbanized areas.
$3 a year? Seriously? I'm guessing that the unit of time is off a wee touch there...
$3 a year? Africans are poor, but not that poor! Maybe you meant per day? Even so, no locally built new car can beat the value of a ten year old used JDM car, which is all you ever see for sale outside of South Africa, and why South Africa must prevent their importation to protect their manufacturing industry. There still may be an export market for cheap African built basic cars outside of Africa, however.