Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Groupe Hasnaoui are to invest a total of $160 million in a new Nissan vehicle plant in Algeria, to meet growing customer demand in the country and across Africa.

The two companies are setting up a joint venture, having received approval from the Algerian government at the end of last year.

The plant will have the capacity to build 63,500 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles annually, and it will produce several models.

Nissan (www.nissan-global.com) aims to double its presence in Africa, the Middle East and India over the course of its ‘Nissan MOVE to 2022’ mid-term plan; expanding industrial operations into new markets, like Algeria, is part of the growth strategy and follows Nissan’s announcement last year that it will start making cars in Pakistan.

Algeria is forecast to be the second-largest car market in Africa by 2021, and the government is working to diversify the economy; it has set a target to ultimately raise production to 500,000 cars a year, while growing the local supplier base.

The Nissan car plant is expected to create at least 1,800 jobs in Algeria and support many more in the supply chain. Nissan teams from Japan will work with suppliers in the country to develop the local component industry through technical support, training and skills exchange.

Groupe Hasnaoui (www.groupe-hasnaoui.com), founded in 1964 by Abdallah Hasnaoui and a major player in the Algerian economy (with interests in industry, distribution and services), is now headed by two co-presidents: Feriel Hasnaoui and Sefiane Hasnaoui.

It is Nissan’s distributor in Algeria, and the two companies have been partners for 25 years.

Meanwhile, Nissan has the started production of the Nissan Qashqai at its plant in Saint Petersburg (Russia), as it brings the latest version of its best-selling crossover to the Russian market.

This announcement comes just months after the new X-Trail went into production at the plant in October.

Engineers at the Russian division of Nissan Technical Center Europe (NTCE) have also adapted the new Nissan Qashqai to meet the specific demands of Russian consumers.

Improved noise insulation and ‘more comfortable’ suspension mean that the model is better equipped to tackle the country’s ‘unique’ road conditions and severe winters.

Nissan’s Saint Petersburg factory is the company’s youngest manufacturing facility in Europe, having opened its doors in June 2009.

It set a record in 2018, producing 56,525 vehicles and exceeding the previous year’s total by 23%.