(MENAFN- Daily News Egypt) The Japanese brand Nissan succeeded in increasing its sales in Egypt during the first quarter (Q1) of 2016 by 4%, which has been supported by its latest model New Sunny.
Nissan registered sales amounting to 5,164 cars over three months, compared to the same period in 2015 during which the company registered sales of 4,995 units.
The company's sales included five models: New Sunny, Sentra, Qashqai, Sunny, and Juke.
The sales of New Sunny jumped by 13%, seizing the carmaker’s top ranking with 3,053 sold cars in the first quarter, compared to 2,696 in Q1 2015.
Sentra came in second place with 1,460 units sold in three months. This is a bet-winner for Nissan Egypt when it began to assemble the model in its factory in 6th of October City.
Qashqai came in third place with 432 cars, achieving a 62% leap in sales compared to its sales in Q1 2015 when it registered 267 sold cars.
The Sunny Super Saloon suffered a historic decline in its sales by 85%, selling only 207 cars compared to 1,370 cars in the comparison period.
The sales of the Juke fell, setting a new sales drop of 96%. The model sold only 12 units in January and February, with zero sales in March, compared to 270 units in Q1 2015.
Nissan Egypt offered in October 2015 the locally-assembled Sentra for the first time with a price ranging between EGP 139,900 and EGP 149,900, EGP 20,000 more than the imported car. However, the price has increased to EGP 157,000 and EGP 167,000.
Nissan Egypt aims to compete with Toyota Corolla by its similar model, Sentra, as they are alike in terms of design, segment, and internal specifications.
Managing Director of Nissan Motor Egypt Isao Sekiguchi said that the car has advantages in addition to its price, such as the air conditioning of the rear passengers, Bluetooth, and the engine-start bottom.
He added that Sentra is manufactured in Nissan's factory in 6th of October, the only factory owned and directly managed by the parent company.
Sekiguchi said that while Egypt is working on developing and strengthening the economy and attracting more investments, Nissan is proud to carry out its role in the country's development.
He added that the decision to manufacture Sentra in Egypt reflects the company's experience in the cars industry here and its confidence in the promising Egyptian market, as well as the skilfulness of the Egyptian workers.
Manager of Nissan's factory, Yoshihiro Ohoto said: 'Our factory in 6th of October has increasing importance for our extended family of manufacturing facilities. We apply the same strict production processes with focusing on the quality in all of our factories worldwide. Presenting Sentra though the local production lines is a testimony on the skilfulness of the workers in Egypt.'
He added that the local production of the Sentra combines between Nissan's position as the number one Japanese investor in Egypt, and the major and leading player in the cars market. It is also the company that hires employees the most in the cars sector; the company has direct labours amounting to 1,300 employees, in addition to a network of distributors and suppliers that include 3,000 employees.
Compared to the previous one, the new model has a chic design and external body with attractive curves, automatic control in temperature in the front and rear areas, Bluetooth for receiving phone calls, and engine start button. All of these are standard equipment.