Nissan says it would build plant in Kenya if government acted on tariffs

Ready to seriously consider investment but current import tariffs discourage local assembly.

Nissan would probably build a local assembly plant in Kenya if the government took action on tariffs, according to a top company executive talking to the Economic Times. Takashi Hata, Nissan's senior vice-president for Africa, the Middle East, and India, said, "We are ready to discuss and we are ready to seriously consider to go for the investment." However, the automaker says that Kenya's current import duties do not justify local assembly. Mike Whitfield, a Nissan executive based in South Africa, said, "Generally, to justify local assembly you need to have a gap of approximately 35 percent [between import tariffs on used and new cars]." He noted that the current import tariffs in Kenya on used and new cars were the same, which he said discouraged local assembly.