EDITION 119 (2011/12/05)

November Sales Results

Nissan achieved a credible 10% market share during November.  Although the total market was down 3% compared to October, we increased by 5%.

Our dealer sales increased by almost 50% compared to November last year and we out-performed the dealer market, which grew by 5% while Nissan dealers grew by 17.5 % during November.

This is a great achievement!

Nissan Leaf Car of the Year in Japan

The Nissan LEAF has scooped yet another award, this time as Car of the Year in Japan.

Nissan Begins Japan Sales of New Quick Charger for EVS

Nissan Motor Co Ltd last week announced that it is commencing sales of its new quick charger on November 30 at Nissan parts companies throughout Japan.

The newly-developed quick charging unit retains the high performance of the current quick charger manufactured by Nissan, but is nearly half the size (by volume).  It offers many safety features for safe charging, such as monitoring against a potential short circuit when the charging unit is interfacing with the EV.  It complies with CHAdeMO protocol and is compatible with Nissan EVs as well as EVs manufactured by other companies.  The new charger unit’s smaller size will take up less space and enable easier installation.

Thanks to the adoption of new electric circuit technology and by harnessing technology used in Nissan manufacturing and R&D, the new unit features a simple and efficient design that costs 598 500 yen (including tax) for the base grade, which is below half the price of the current unit, but maintains the overall level of quality. 

Infiniti Senior Management Appointment for Ivan Ollivier

Ivan Ollivier, who is currently General Manager, Marketing and Product Planning at Nissan South Africa, has been appointed Senior Manager, Global Infiniti Carline Marketing Management based in Yokohama with effect from February 1.  He will report to Tom Scarpello, General Manager Marketing and Communication of Infiniti's Global Business Unit.  In this newly created position, Ivan will be responsible for managing the strategic development and execution of all Infiniti's model line marketing activities on a global scale.
Prior to joining Nissan South Africa about three years ago, Ivan held various positions in Europe as GM Organisation Development, Nissan Marketing Director of RBU Centre and CMM for Nissan as well as Infiniti Russian models.
Please join me in congratulating Ivan and wishing him every success with his new assignment.

MARKETING NEWS

NP200

The new Chev Corsa Utility bakkie was launched last week with some price and basic spec changes.  Details on the new positioning versus NP200 will be communicated once full details are available.  While Chev has launched a new model, Ford Bantam production ended in November and this presents great opportunity for us to grow volume and share.

Pre-empting the Bantam exit, we have already started engaging with prospective previous Bantam fleets to communicate the strong NP200 value proposition as the option for future purchases.

 

 NP300 Hardbody - WWF Water Balance Programme Donation

Since collection of the NP300 Hardbody donated to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) on August 29, the Water Balance team has enjoyed invaluable use of the vehicle in various water and environmental conservation activities.

Some of the activities that the NP300 Hardbody has been part of includes:

• Delivery of herbicide to Newcastle
• Scoping and monitoring field trips in Riviersonderend (Western Cape), Keurbooms (South Western Cape) and Witteklip (Eastern Cape)
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) Luneburg (Mpumalanga)

Not only have the above trips been undertaken in the vehicle, but a number of site visits have been made around the Western Cape.   At present the vehicle has about 12 500 km on the clock and the Nissan NP300 Hardbody’s performance has been outstanding at all sites.

Letter from Beeld/JIMS Micra winner

These are excerpts from a letter we received from Olga da Silva, winner of the Nissan/Beeld/JIMS Micra Visia Plus:

“We feel so privileged to be driving a completely new global car that is so cleverly designed and engineered.  When it was first launched it already caught our eye, and at the Johannesburg International Motor Show we were able to admire it first hand.
 
“After having thoroughly enjoyed the motor show, on the way out we once again passed by the Beeld stand with the Micra on show, and I told my husband that of all the many cars that we had seen, it was the Nissan Micra that had captured my heart.
 
“A few weeks later, Nigel Hall from Beeld, phoned me, giving me the unbelievable news!  Thank you Nissan SA, Beeld and Johannesburg International Motor Show, for making my dreams come true!
 
“We are amazed by this 'little' car - we think this general classification is unfair.  Its competitors may be small, but this Micra is larger than we expected with a spacious interior and a big car ride quality.

“The interior is a most comfortable place to be, and we weren't expecting an audio system, so this is another exciting bonus which we didn't have in our old car.  Not to mention the ABS, brake assist and EBD, four airbags, power steering and air conditioning.
 
“It is such fun to drive and my husband now has an incentive to be in my good books, so he can get to drive now and again.  We really love this car and are surprised that it is not a finalist for the SAGMJ Car of the Year Award for 2012!
 
 “Amanda, we thank you for organising everything."
 

AFTERSALES NEWS

Aftersales parts pricing

By resourcing from another supplier, Aftersales Inventory Department has been able to reduce the recommended retail price for the NP200 UA6 with K7M 1.6 8v (EO + aircon) Bare Engine Assembly (part number 1010200Q4F) from R41 237.44 to R 22 451.50 (excl. VAT).

 

PRODUCT PLANNING NEWS

A new series of product features most of us have forgotten about and which should be part of the new vehicle handover

Selective door unlocking

Applied model: Micra, Qashqai, X-Trail, Murano, 370Z, GT-R Navara V9X

When you first receive the vehicle, the door unlock mode is set to unlock all the doors with one push of the “UNLOCK” button.  The door unlock mode can be switched to the selective door unlock mode, which unlocks the passengers’ doors at the second push of the “UNLOCK” button.

To activate:

Push the “LOCK” and “UNLOCK” buttons simultaneously for more than five seconds.
Perform the same procedure to deactivate the selective door unlock mode.

When the selective door unlock mode is set, the hazard indicator flashes three times.
When the all door unlock mode is set, the hazard indicator flashes once.

 

DEALER COMPLIMENTS

 
Satisfied Customer

Elbe Els wrote to the Nissan Customer Relations Info Desk: “My dad recently saw an article about Nissan and then asked me to write to Nissan and tell them about the satisfactory service he got from a Nissan product.  He bought his new Datsun 1200 bakkie at the Datsun Garage in Bethlehem in October 1974 for the cash price of R1 835.  Yes, that was the price for the bakkie, not just an instalment!  The bakkie has been in daily use ever since.  Everything is still original, even the gearbox and engine.  All that needed to be changed were the tyres. 

“I have fond memories of my dad and his ‘Japanese Porsche’ (as we kids call it) taking us to school and teaching us to drive.  My dad was so satisfied with the service he got from his bakkie that he recently also bought a Nissan X-Trail, and so far it looks like this one is also going to be with our family for years to come."

 

 
INTERNATIONAL NEWS

After decades of being the US market’s No 3 import brand, Nissan North America is aiming to unseat Honda for the No 2 spot.  Nissan’s American chief Colin Doidge says Nissan has the tools to boost its US market share to 10% from the current 8,2%.

Total US car sales for November rose 14%, the largest gain since April, and the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 13,6 million, the strongest in two years.  Nissan was up 19% compared to a year ago, while Toyota was up 7% and Honda was down 6%.

Pierre Loing, who recently visited Nissan South Africa and was one of the guest presenters at the Johannesburg International Motor Show, has been appointed Vice President Product Planning of Nissan Americas.

The Nissan Juke Nismo concept car is expected to be a star of this month’s Tokyo Motor Show.  Lower, faster and visually even more dramatic, Nismo know-how redefines the Nissan Juke and gives a first glimpse of Nismo’s future and an idea of what a premium sports version of the hugely successful compact crossover could look like.  With its distinctive styling Nissan Juke has redefined the highly competitive B-segment, but the Juke Nismo Concept is even more dramatic. It’s lower, wider and has a tougher stance. Even standing still, it’s clearly a performance car.  Its body kit is designed not just to look good, but also to be dynamically highly efficient.  New parts include revised bumpers front and rear, wider fenders and sill side skirts.

Next week’s edition of Monday before 10 will be the last one for 2011.