Nissan South Africa plans to retrench 25% of its employees – about 400 of its total 1 600 workforce – as part of an employee reduction plan because of its inability to secure a replacement model for its NP200 bakkie for production at its Rosslyn plant in Pretoria.

Production of the Nissan NP200 bakkie is scheduled to end in March 2024 at the end of the model’s extended lifecycle.

Nissan SA announced on Friday that its Rosslyn plant continues to build its flagship Navara pickup, with model upgrades to come and export destinations set to increase, but is preparing to end production of the iconic NP200.

It said the immediate replacement model for the NP200 was planned to be built on an alliance-shared platform in Russia, but the geopolitical situation in Russia meant this model was no longer viable due to significantly reduced volumes.

The alliance is a reference to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, while the geopolitical situation in Russia appears to be a reference to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent war between the two countries, which has resulted in a large number of countries imposing sanctions on Russia.