For nearly 60 years, the Rosslyn plant outside Pretoria has been synonymous with Nissan production in South Africa, churning out everything from the legendary Datsun 1400 bakkie to the modern Navara. This storied chapter in South African automotive manufacturing is now drawing to a close, as Nissan South Africa has announced the sale of its Rosslyn facility to Chery.
https://dealerfloor.co.za/industry-news/nissan-to-sell-rosslyn-plant-to-chery
No more locally built Nissans. Going forward, all Nissans will be imported. After the demise of the popular small bakkie, the Nissan NP200, it was only the Navara bakkie that was built in Rosslyn for the local and export markets.
In the sixties, the first Nissans – then known as Datsun – were imported to South Africa and in 1966 local manufacturing started with the opening of the Rosslyn plant outside Pretoria that eventually would become one of the landmarks of local vehicle manufacturing in the country for decades to come.
Datsun and later Nissan manufacturing timeline:
1958: The Datsun Bluebird made its local debut at the Pretoria Show, signalling the brand's entry into the market.
1963: Formal operations began with the importation and local assembly of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) vehicles.
1965–1966: Large-scale local assembly of Datsun vehicles officially commenced at the Motor Assemblies plant. The Rosslyn facility officially opened in 1966.
1971: The iconic Datsun 1200 bakkie (pick-up) was launched. This model would later be built exclusively in South Africa for 37 years, eventually becoming the legendary Nissan 1400.
1973: The company was renamed Datsun Nissan South Africa Ltd., focusing on producing Nissan-engineered products under the Datsun brand name.
1983: The official name change from Datsun to Nissan occurred. The organisation dropped the Datsun banner entirely to become Nissan SA.
2014: The Datsun brand was briefly revived in South Africa as an entry-level brand with the launch of the Datsun GO and GO+ models, before being phased out again by 2022.
Key milestones of models manufactured in Rosslyn:
Nissan/Datsun 1400 (1971-2008) - Total production between 275,000 and 285,000 units. This was South Africa's longest-serving vehicle model.
Datsun 140Z and 160Z (Mid-1970s to 1980) - Total production: Approximately 306 Datsun 140Zs were built as homologation specials (around 150 in 1977/78 and another batch later), and only 241 Datsun 160Zs were produced in 1978-1979 as a limited run. The 140Z was a homologation special for racing, whilst the 160Z followed its success, both being unique South African models according to reports.
FIAT Uno (1990-2005) - Total production around 116,000 units. It was manufactured under licence from FIAT.
FIAT Palio, Siena, Strada (1999-2005) - The production period started in 1999 for Palio, in 2000 for Siena and in 2005 for the Strada bakkie. Total production: Not available.
Nissan NP300 Hardbody (1988 to 2021) - Total production around 450,000: The NP300 was a continuation of the old Nissan Hardbody, bigger than the NP200 and cheaper than the Navara.
Nissan NP200 (2008-2024) - Annual sales were approximately 10,000 to 15,000 units per year in South Africa. In its final month of production during March 2024, some 2,679 units were manufactured. It is said that the NP200 replacement was cancelled due to the Russian-Ukraine war.
Nissan Navara (2021-Present) - Total production: 2023: Nearly 25,000 units, 2024: Under 20,000 units and in 2025 (first 4 months) approximately 4,939 units (1,838 local + 3,101 exported)
The Rosslyn plant was designed to produce 35,000 units initially, then increased by 30,000 units when Navara production was added (bringing total to 65,000), but the effective optimal capacity is 50,000 units, also the threshold needed to maximise government incentives under the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP).
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