Nissan to re-enter the SA taxi industry

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The new 16-seat model has been built to comply with South Africa's taxi industry regulations and benefits from extensive South African influence throughout its development while being specifically engineered in Japan.

The new model succeeds the Nissan E20 of the 1990s - a vehicle that still carries a strong heritage with local taxi operators almost 20 years after the last E20 was sold.

The new NV350 Impendulo Taxi, whose name is also unique to the South African market, has already begun forging new bonds with local taxi association members who have featured extensively in its development, both in its engineering and indeed its special name.

The "Name to Fame Game" took place in 2013 and invited members of the taxi industry to submit ideas for the market name of NV350 in South Africa.

This resulted in the new Nissan NV350 Taxi carrying the "Impendulo" moniker, an indication to the extent to which consumers have been involved in the model's planning and development.

Impendulo is the answer

Tessa Cooke, NV350 product manager of Nissan South Africa, said: "Impendulo is the isiZulu word for 'the answer', a term that can be applied to the NV350 Taxi in more than one way. With it, we aim to recapture the love and affection of both taxi operators and commuters.

"The fact that our new taxi has been designed around the people who are going to operate and use it, coupled with the overwhelmingly positive response our naming competition, points towards a very successful reintroduction of the Nissan badge to the South African taxi industry."

The name also gives the NV350 Impendulo Taxi a strong local flavour, reigniting the South African taxi industry's affection for Nissan products - an industry in which over 4.5 million people travel in over 220 000 taxis on a daily basis.

In attendance at the NV350 Impendulo launch was Norihiko Yagi, chief product specialist of Nissan Motor Company, who worked with the South African contingent throughout the NV350 Taxi's development.

"To finally bring Impendulo to market is thrilling, the entire experience embodying our 'Innovation that Excites' ethos. Following the launch we will be involving the taxi industry even further as we launch a brand ambassador campaign, followed by individual taxi rank launches where we will take the NV350 Impendulo straight to the people who will be using it every day."

For more, go to [[http://www.nissan.co.za/en/web/models/NV350%20IMPENDULO/home/hpage.htm www.nissan.co.za