Car manufacturer Nissan plans on doubling output at its South African plant in Rosslyn (about 20 km north of Pretoria) by building a new pick-up model starting from 2018, Bloomberg reports citing an executive from the company.

“Nissan will see its output rise to as many as 80,000 vehicles a year as the new model comes online, against 40,000 at present,” Nissan South Africa Managing Director said.

“We are currently in negotiations with potential suppliers in regards to the new models, and details concerning the arrangements should be released at the beginning of 2016,” he adds saying that the new pick-up models manufactured in Rosslyn would mostly be sold in Africa.

Data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) shows that 6% of the National GDP comes from the automobile industry and represents 12% of exports since nearly 60% of the output goes abroad.