Latest news with #Nissan-badged
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Making sense of Nissan-Renault's SUVs heading to South Africa
Devised as Dacias and badged as Renaults in certain markets, the latest generation Duster and Boreal will be sold as Nissans built at the Chennai plant in India from 2026. Its product plans for South Africa revised at the beginning of the year, the reported confirmation by sister brand Renault on its new Boreal being under investigation for the local market, has provided the clearest hint yet of Nissan's incoming, still unnamed, new SUV. Approved for the local market in September last year after being teased in India five months before, the Nissan-badged Boreal will form part of a two-model roll-out, with the second set to be based on the all-new Renault Duster. '[These] products will be Nissan's answer to the Chinese competition in South Africa. We believe [India] is a good source to bring competitive and technologically advanced to market,' Nissan Managing Director for South Africa and Independent African Markets, Maciej Klenkiewicz, told the media on the sidelines of the facelift Magnite's launch in Cape Town in November. 'If you look at other products made in India [for South Africa], they are becoming more and more competitive and we, as Nissan, believe this is our future'. Set to be produced alongside the Boreal and Duster at the Chennai plant that currently builds the Magnite, Kwid, Kiger, Triber, the Nissan pair will differ visually and subtly inside, but retain the same mechanicals and, in the case of the Boreal version, offer seven seats. Back in May, Nissan Managing Director for India, Saurabh Vatsa, confirmed that while the facility now falls solely under Renault ownership, Nissan has no plans on leaving the Indian market. This stands in confirmation with Nissan Africa boss Jordi Vilas, who told local media at the launch of the Navara Stealth earlier this year month that the brand's remains committed to Africa and South Africa despite ongoing rumours around its Rosslyn plant outside Pretoria. 'We have a wonderful partnership and agreement with Renault, and when we were in charge of the plant, there were no production-supply problems for either partner, so why should there be any now?' Vatsa told Autocar India. 'Reports of our exit are all untrue, and there is no reason for us to exit.' In the same report, Vasta added that pre-production of the first Nissan-badged Renault had already started, which speculation has alleged could be the Duster Nissan will either rebadge once again as the Terrano, or under a different moniker. While a Nissan-badged version of the Renault Triber has also been approved for India from early next year, this model has not been approved for South Africa. At the other end of the scale, the Boreal-based Nissan, itself a restyled and adapted version of the Dacia Bigster, will be revised further to seat seven and not five as the latter. In a surprise though, it will be positioned below the X-Trail instead of replacing it outright. For its part, the Duster-underpinned model will indirectly succeed the Qashqai discontinued last year. 'In terms of the positioning of the vehicle and pricing, and technology, it won't cannibalise sales [of the X-Trail],' Vila said when asked about the possibility of the newcomer stealing sales of the X-Trail that will undergo in a refresh within the coming months. An effective five model SUV range that will be topped by the new Y63 Patrol next year, with the Magnite remaining the line-up's entry-point, more details will only be disclosed. For its part, the announcement to IOL about the Boreal for South Africa could result in the Symbioz being pulled, possibly as a result of price. This, after Renault revealed at its product plans conference for 2025 at the end of last year, that it is investigating the Symbioz for introduction in 2026 as the replacement for the long since discontinued Kadjar. As it stands though, this is purely speculative and will only be confirmed or dismissed next year. NOW READ: New products coming as Nissan approves two new SUVs for Africa
The Citizen
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Indian pre-production of first South Africa-bound new Nissan starts
Confirmed for arrival in 2026, the first of two new SUVs will be based on existing Renault products assembled at Chennai Plant now wholly owned by the French brand. The first of two new Renault-based Nissan SUV will arrive in 2026. Both have been confirmed for South Africa. Image: Nissan With speculation continuing to grow about Nissan's alleged closing of its Rosslyn Plant outside Pretoria, the automaker has indicated that two of its three products bound for India have entered pre-production ahead of their market reveals next year. Nissan by Renault Teased back in March as part of its restructuring process that saw Ivan Espinosa replace Makoto Uchida as CEO, the initial pair of models consist of a Nissan-badged version of the Renault Triber and a restyled take on the new Duster. Not shown in the mentioned images, the incoming third model will use the Dacia Bigster as a base and could replace the X-Trail as a more affordable option in select developing markets. ALSO READ: Reports claim Rosslyn to be one of Nissan's plants facing closure A facility that had been of Nissan's biggest outside Japan and even North America, the plant currently produces the Kiger and Triber, as well as the Magnite for 65 markets in both right-and-left-hand-drive. In addition, it will soon produce the Duster currently made in Romania and Turkey, and by extension, the mentioned Nissan model. Plans for India Addressing Nissan's supposed market exit, Vatsa told Autocar India, 'I am also happy to say that all our product plans are on track and well underway and, in fact, pre-production of our upcoming B-MPV and C-SUV has already begun at the Renault plant in Chennai. 'Reports of our exit are all untrue, and there is no reason for us to exit. As you can see from our continued development of the Magnite and the new products planned, we are not pulling back from anything'. Nissan-badged version of the Renault Triber will go on-sale in India next year. Image: Nissan Confirming the Triber-based model as debuting in the first quarter of next year, Vatsa stated that the Duster underpinned model, which could revive the Terrano name used on a rebadged version of the original, would make its unveiling in mid-2026 and go on-sale soon after. Although sold exclusively with five-seats in Europe, Vatsa remarked that the Bigster derived Nissan, which will also become Chennai-assembled Renault, will be engineered from the start to have seven-seats as opposed to being a '5+2' model. Accordingly, this model will debut in 2027, suggesting the Renault version as either becoming a reality in late 2026 or early the next year ahead of the Nissan. Made in India for South Africa More significantly, both SUVs have received approval for South Africa, the former set to replace the Qashqai that quietly departed the local market last year. '[These] products will be Nissan's answer to the Chinese competition in South Africa. We believe [India] is a good source to bring competitive and technologically advanced to market,' Nissan Managing Director for South Africa and Independent African Markets, Maciej Klenkiewicz, told the media at the unveiling of the facelift Magnite in Cape Town last year. Dacia Bigster will become a Renault once production kicks-off in India. A local market debut is anticipated to happen either in 2026 or 2027. Image: Dacia A line-up also set to include the all-new Y63 Patrol in 2026, the alleged closure of Rosslyn, which currently only produces the Navara for South Africa and Sub-Saharan African markets, has so far not been commented on as one of the seven plants facing closure. This comes after the announcement of the Re:Nissan strategy by Espinosa that would see a reduction in production facilities from 17 to 10 and lead to job cuts of 20 000 on top of the 9 000 announced last year. Uncertain future Locally, the Rosslyn Plant, which has been in operation since 1966, employees an estimated 1 200 workers, which had been reduced by 400 in 2023 following the discontinuation of the NP200 and the shelving of its almost finished successor due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As it stands, Nissan South Africa has so far remained mum on the reported closing of Rosslyn, though, expectations are that an official an official announcement will be made in due course. NOW READ: New Patrol coming as Nissan releases fresh details for South Africa
