Nissan Walvis Bay shuts down for good

THE economic recession of the past two years coupled with the impact of Covid-19 has led to the permanent closure of the Pupkewitz Nissan Walvis Bay motor dealership.

This was revealed by Anton Westraadt, a director at Pupkewitz Motors.

He says the group has, through the dealership, suffered financial losses over the past five years.

The car dealer has been selling new and used cars at the town for over 20 years.

Westraadt says it will merge with Pupkewitz Nissan at Swakopmund in an effort to establish a profitable business, which will save jobs and continue to serve customers.

He says out of 14 permanent employees, one has taken up voluntary separation, and another has resigned.

“Nissan Swakopmund has six employees, and we could sadly not accommodate all employees from the Walvis Bay dealership. They will unfortunately be retrenched,” he says.

Westraadt says Walvis Bay customers will be served through the Swakopmund branch now using a call-and-collect service, among others.

“This service will give our customers the option to have their vehicles collected from their home or place of work at Walvis Bay, and delivered back to them in the afternoon,” he says.

The decision to close some of Pupkewitz Holdings’ businesses was taken earlier last month when chairman Mike Leeming announced restructuring to offset declining traditional markets.

This has led to the group offering its 1 860 employees voluntary separation packages.

– Email: bottomline@namibian.com.na

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