BB Group takes ownership of the “final five” NP200s
The BB Group – one of the largest independently owned vehicle retailers in South Africa – is the proud owner of the last Nissan NP200s to be built in South Africa.
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The group recently received the last five models from Nissan. Each of the five pick-ups was sold to the BB Group with a special certificate of authenticity, showing not only their unique details, but adding their production status as one of the five last models to roll off the production line.
The keys to the five NP200 models and their certificates were handed over by Maciej Klenkiewicz, the Managing Director of Nissan South Africa and of the Independent Markets of Africa. Klenkiewicz and his team visited BB Group Nissan in Gezina to hand over the vehicles, tour the museum and visit the adjacent BB Group Motorsport workshop.
Seen here at the handing over of the last Nissan NP200 bakkies to the BB Group, are Maciej Klenkiewicz (MD Nissan South Africa), Arnold du Plessis (CEO BB Group), Mark Handley (Director: Sales & Operations at Nissan South Africa), Wynand Swart (Dealer Principal BB Gezina Nissan) and Francois Scheepers (Sales Director at BB Group).
“The BB Group is proud to be the owner of the last models of the NP200 to be built at the Nissan Rosslyn plant. These special pick-ups will now take their place next to the last three Nissan 1400s ever to be built in the same plant,” says Arnold du Plessis, the owner and CEO of the BB Group.
Du Plessis has personally collected the vehicles on display at BB Group’s Nissan Museum, which is located on the sprawling premises of BB Group’s Nissan Gezina showroom in Pretoria, Gauteng.
Among the many vehicles on display here is a version of every Nissan GT-R ever made, including the Nissan R35 GT-R named “Armageddon” by motorsport fans. This special GT-R has won several Simola Hill Climb King of the Hill class and overall titles.
Also on display is a special version of the Nissan Racing Hardbody vehicles that competed in the South African Off-Road Championship, a unique Nissan Patrol fire truck from five decades ago and a pristine example of every Nissan ZX and SX model, including the rare Nissan 240 SX.
Officially the last of the legendary Nissan NP200 bakkies with Carina van der Merwe (marketing Manager BB Group) holding the certificate.
To many vehicle owners, the BB Group is synonymous with Nissan in Gauteng, Limpopo and other parts of northern South Africa. This close association can, in part, be attributed to its regular participation in local motorsport with vehicles such as the Nissan Patrol, Nissan Hardbody and Nissan GT-R.
The association can further be attributed to the fact that BB Group was the first retailer to purchase Datsun pick-ups from the fledgling Datsun importer when it first came to South Africa. The group bought and sold the very first five Datsun models to enter South Africa in 1959 and it has since maintained a powerful reputation as a leading retailer of Nissan vehicles.
Today, BB Group represents many passenger and commercial vehicle brands in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the Free State and the Northern Cape. The brands include Nissan, BAIC, BYD, GWM and HAVAL, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Ford, Renault, Honda, Chery and many more.
For more information on the BB Group, visit bbgroup.co.za.
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