Johannesburg — THIS year was one of testing and product planning for Nissan Diesel SA, and the company is currently in the process of replacing its entire range.

"Nissan Diesel SA's product planning philosophy is an evolutionary approach rather than revolutionary, which means that only fully tested appropriate products will be introduced," says Frans Cloete, executive vice-president of operations at Nissan Diesel SA.

"Any new products will also support our vision to cut the lifecycle cost of our trucks to the minimum," he says.

The testing of new products includes road impact testing for new components, new engine and transmission technology evaluation under South African conditions, as well as performance, durability and serviceability evaluations.

"Nissan Diesel is committed to providing the best possible solutions for South African businesses. focusing on real added value by ensuring the lowest optimum lifecycle costs, customers can expect to take their business to the highest levels of productivity and profit," says Cloete.

The operations vice-president says that ensuring customers have the best service, support and products, is what makes Nissan Diesel successful.

"At Nissan Diesel, we have the right people with the right attitude to truck business and a company that is prepared to commit to our customers' success," he claims.

Nissan Diesel SA remains one of Nissan Diesel Motor Corporation's largest export hubs outside of Japan. The South African company is ahead of the likes of the US, Australia and China.

"By supporting our vision of adopting a Nissan Diesel for life, we have developed world-class service standards, thereby ensuring the most economical lifecycle costs for our customers," says Cloete.

He says that Nissan Diesel is also expecting to continue to grow its investment in the country. Last year, the company opened a R1,5m training facility in Rosslyn, Pretoria. This was established to provide staff, dealers and fleet owners with world-class development opportunities through various technical and nontechnical courses.

Construction is also almost completed to revamp and expand the company's office complex at its assembly plant in Rosslyn.

Another of the organisation's project currently on the go is a new cross-docking project to improve internal logistics.

During this year, Nissan Diesel's dealers made a considerable investment in the upgrading of 13 dealerships around SA, amounting to a total investment of R120m.