Nissan Motor Company plans to start assembling vehicles in Kenya, bolstering government plans to develop a regional auto manufacturing hub in East Africa's biggest economy. The Japanese carmaker is the latest to target Kenya after Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot and CNH Industrial announced plans for assembly lines in the past 18 months. The facilities could cut new-vehicle costs to customers in some of Africa's fastest-growing economies, where vehicle ownership per 1000 people is about a quarter of the global average. Outside of South Africa, there isn't much automotive manufacturing in Africa because of challenges such as the volume of imported used cars, few vehicle financing options and a patchy road network. In Kenya, sales of new units fell 20% last year to 11044. Nissan will initially put together bakkies from semi-knocked-down kits, or SKDs, if the government agrees to waive a 25% import tax, according to Jim Dando, director of Africa operations for Nissan. "We're prepared to enter ...
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