Nissan South Africa’s women leaders charting the path towards gender equality and sustainability Vhutshilo Dzivhuho

“Know your ability, intelligence, determination and go beyond gender barriers.”

ancy Moodley was appointed as Senior Manager of Customer Experience (NCX), Digital and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) at NSA in 2019. With customer experience rapidly redefining the way we do business, Nancy’s deployment was to establish this critical functional area that solely drives cross-functional innovation, digital and physical transformation in support of Nissan’s key focus pillar which is the customer being the core of our business. As part of her responsibilities, she and her team have been integral in driving an aggressive deployment of digital solutions, Martech and data intelligence in supporting the consistent drive in delivering a seamless customer experience.

A strategist with more than 16 years of experience at NSA, Nancy is also responsible for the positioning of the company in the Southern Africa market. hutshilo Dzivhuho began her career at Nissan South Africa (NSA) in 2017 as a graduate Quality Engineer. After several rotations within the organisation’s Quality department, she was appointed Vehicle Quality Engineer in 2018.

In her role as a Vehicle Quality Engineer, she ensures that all vehicle quality check systems are effective and implemented in line with the trusted Nissan global standards. Her duties involve measuring, analysing, investigating, and testing dynamic functions of Nissan locally assembled vehicles’ Quality Variation Characteristics Control (QVCC). Vhutshilo also

As part of Nissan’s commitment to “eliminate inequality and empower women across the organisation”, Nancy works to fulfil the requirements of her position while also generating opportunities for her team to develop the necessary skills to grow personally and professionally.

Nancy has a plethora of knowledge and experience to impart to the young women who are entering the automotive sector after more than ten years of ascending the male dominated workspace.

Nancy has contributed towards pulling out a seat for other women to sit at the table. hantelle Nkosi has spent more than a decade between Nissan South Africa and Nissan Spain. She first joined Nissan South Africa as a contracted engineer in 2008, worked in vehicle quality and has since grown to senior management as General Manager: Plant Quality. In her time at Nissan, Chantelle has been instrumental in delivering the locally produced Nissan Navara, having started at the very beginning of the process, managing the team and delivery through the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to the coveted ‘Car of The Year Award’ in the 4 x 4 Double Cab segment accolade. led the enhancement project of the organisation’s vehicle test track. The determined engineer was one of the South African team members who was on the ground in support of launching the new Ghana production facility where the Navara is assembled.

A significant portion of Vhutshilo’s career has been devoted to assisting women at Nissan to grow in their careers, make a significant difference, and create a lasting impact among her peers. She sees it as part of her duty as a woman engineer to build on the understanding that other women need to support each other in getting their voices heard.

“Make a difference. Continue exploring ways to drive innovation.”

Nancy Moodley

Through all these accomplishments, Chantelle notes that one of the proudest moments was related to her work as a manager of junior employees.

“For me, seeing some of the graduates that I trained moving into leadership roles and others highlighted that I am becoming a great mentor and Trainer. I truly believe as a team we are stronger together, as such I encourage my team to lean into each other’s strengths as only that way, can we do our best work.”

“I encourage young women I mentor to lean into the qualities that make them different.” Chantelle Nkosi

essa Cooke began her career at Nissan in 2010 as a Marketing Graduate Trainee within the Light Commercial Vehicle Marketing department. Since then she has grown to become Brand and Customer Experience General Manager Africa. Tessa has held various positions across the Marketing Communications, Product Planning and Customer Experience portfolios at Nissan, being responsible for several projects.

A key highlight of her tenure at Nissan is the launch of the locally produced, now award-winning, Nissan Navara. She provided strategic marketing value to ensure the successful launch of this new product – built in Africa for Africa. Tessa attributes her success to mentorship and says she firmly believes in its transformative potential. She continues to support and encourage other female employees who work in various departments at Nissan by taking part in frequent check-in sessions where they exchange resources and encourage one another’s development.