CEO Corner - An interview with Nissan SA's MD Maciej Klenkiewicz

CEO Corner

After just over one year at the helm of Nissan South Africa, we sit down with its MD, Maciej Klenkiewicz, to get a sense of Nissan’s performance and its future growth strategy.

‍

Nissan’s significant influence on the African continent stems from its multiple factory operations in Egypt and South Africa as well as further SKD (Semi Knocked Down) and service operations in the majority of the continent. It’s an ever-changing strategic conundrum with Nissan constantly looking for new business growth opportunities whilst protecting its core business in countries where it has a deep and firm footing.

‍

South Africa is one of those stronghold markets where Nissan has operated for almost 60 years, producing vehicles at its Rosslyn manufacturing facility. It is from his residence and leadership in South Africa, that we chat and contextualise Maciej Klenkiewicz’s view of the current landscape. For a start, Nissan SA has realised a year-on-year growth in 2024 to date, largely driven by exports of the locally produced Nissan Navara LCV pick-up. This is one of the success areas for Maciej to date with a few more in the success of Magnite and good dealer relations. “I’m quite happy with the performance of our dealer network. When we lost the NP200, as you can imagine, the volume impact was quite big but I saw a lot of resilience on the dealer side,” says Klenkiewicz.

‍

These are some of the positives. On the negative side, Kleinkiewicz's significant experience in various sectors of the business seems apparent as he laments some complexities of doing business beyond SA borders and in the broader context of Africa. He lists some of the challenges of producing left-hand and right-hand drive models on the same continent; varying price points; strong competition, taxes, regulations, and very different markets. Seemingly the largest pressures on Nissan’s logistics are those in the geo-political environment especially around the Red Sea access and the conflicts that remain volatile around there. This makes logistics and distribution much harder with freight and insurances skyrocketing.

‍

South African context

As we dial into the local market, it seems that Klenkiewicz has fewer concerns. “I’m very impressed with operations in South Africa. Well developed. Mature. But also very competitive.” Competition is indeed an area he says is one of the largest challenges but something that he relishes. Of course, the question of the influx of new players from the Asian sector is asked and I frame the question around the SA context but also with a broader view of the continent, given Klenkiewicz's role.

‍

“I have nothing against fair competition. I like it and I even support a multi-branded environment for some of the biggest dealer groups. Competition stimulates everyone to be stronger, better, and faster. South Africa is the most advanced market in the whole continent. I believe [these] brands are bringing high-quality products and also with good technology, good looks and being very competitive.”

‍

This competitive landscape has compelled Nissan to invest in smart, strategic solutions that maximise its success. Some of these actions include a variety of updates and improvements on some of its core products, the number of which has dwindled in recent years. The Nissan Navara has already received a host of updates including the grade, line-up, and some value-added features. This has been extended beyond South Africa where Navara has been successfully introduced into new markets for the first time. New market acquisition and prospecting is another of Nissan’s employed strategies. In 2023, Libya was a new market that was opened. In 2024, Algerian and Egyptian sales of Navara commenced and there is a new SKD partnership that has started in Ghana. Tunisia is also a newly developed export market that should see sales start within the next few weeks.

‍

This expansion of the market has been responsible for keeping Nissan’s business strong, reflecting a 30% year-on-year growth to date. This same growth number is quoted for the South African operation as well, despite the smaller product line-up with the Qashqai, NP200, and NP300 having all been removed from the line-up for various reasons. On face value, these seemingly mainstay products being canned, leave us questioning Nissan’s commitment to the country or questioning this corporate giant’s ability to provide the right products for our market. Thankfully, Klenkiewicz's response to this clears up some of the concerns.

‍

“We are committed to South Africa! Hence we are taking a lot of actions to improve our line-up. There are two developments. We are working on a replacement for NP200, the half-ton pick-up replacement – this is a top priority,” says Klenkiewicz.

‍

This is great news in itself, but the reason it’s taken longer than expected is because of Nissan and Renault having to withdraw from Russian operations in 2023. Currently, this new model is expected in 2025.

‍

Beyond this, Klenkiewicz confirms that there are two new models that will be brought into SA from India through the Nissan-Renault alliance. These are two-row and three-row SUVs, the names of which are yet to be officially shared. In the meantime, the newly updated Nissan Magnite will start sales in SA in the first quarter of 2025 and the all-new seventh-generation Nissan Patrol will also find its way here in late 2025 or early 2026.

‍

The future outlook for Nissan is positive from Klenkiewicz's point of view, but I can’t help but wonder about the staff retrenchment process that started late last year and also the movement of longstanding MD of Nissan SA, Mike Whitfield in the latter half of 2023. I ask Klenkiewicz about his current team and the situation on the ground about leadership and staffing at the giant OEM’s local properties. He admits that the business required the Section 189 process given its drop in volume, for reasons mentioned above.

‍

From his standpoint, it seemed to be an amicable and considered process without major upheavals from the staff compliment. Within the same breath, Klenkiewicz was also quick to point out that angst within the dealer network was also well managed and he thinks that the right dealers have remained with the brand for the long run. He isn’t moved to give too much information about why senior leadership left but as it stands, he is happy with the current team. “I have a very solid and experienced team right now, well prepared to work under pressure and a great team for the future in terms of growth.”

‍

By all accounts, it sounds like Nissan has crossed over into better territory having weathered the storms of 2023 and the chaos that those storms brought. Klenkiewicz is extremely positive about the future and strongly believes that Nissan’s continent-wide volumes will increase within the near future. “The volume I am expecting to provide to our customers in 2026 & 2027, is going to double, a significant opportunity for the future.”

‍

In the South African context that represents something like 26 000 new cars per annum which would place Nissan firmly back into the Top 5 best sellers given today’s figures.

‍

Nissan’s corporate view of electrification and its heavy investment in this, I broach the subject and ask whether or not this strategy remains in place and whether he agrees that it remains the best idea, given that so many other brands have revised their proposed future strategies.

‍

For Nissan, globally, and within Africa for the near future, Klenkiewicz states that the hybrid solutions are the bridge or interim solution, particularly looking at Nissan’s ePower technology followed by PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles). By 2027, more than 50% of Nissan’s range will be either fully or partially electrified. Closer to home and perhaps more exciting within this context, is that whilst the company is not looking to develop new petrol engines, it is in the development of new diesel engines which would make sense for markets such as ours, where diesel engines continue to play such a key role within the LCV segment, where Navara’s success is maintained.

‍

Ultimately, Nissan is poised to bring anything within the electrified powertrain space to South Africa, but Klenkiewicz's two considerations are what he refers to as ‘market/country readiness’ which refers to support from government and/or infrastructure – AND – ‘customer benefit’, i.e. someone will want to buy it. “Today, in South Africa, we don’t see it yet but we are ready. We can bring anything tomorrow, but it’s quite difficult at the moment and today the price point is the reason. But that’s today.”

‍

As I wrap up our chat, it’s clear that South Africa for all its economic pressures and the constrained market is not Klenkiewicz's biggest headache. He is quite positive about the future of South Africa, especially in light of improved interest rates, a more stable government, and a new line-up of the right models at the right price coupled with the continued success of his stalwart Magnite and Navara models. It’s also clear that he likes it here in sunny South Africa, a place that he says provides “some of the nicest winters I’ve ever seen in my life.” This is from a man who has had extensive experience in various parts of the world including the Nordic countries, Thailand, and greater parts of Asia. His larger concerns surround the global struggles of Nissan and how those will affect operations on this part of the world and further into the African context.

‍

Oh and what about Nismo for South Africa? There could be some news there but Klenkiewicz doesn’t discount it and continues on the positive outlook….watch this space!

‍