As we celebrate International Women’s Month globally, we should be aware of the need to continuously invest in women’s empowerment on personal and professional levels as there is an incredible amount of evidence to support the positive ramifications.

This year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme is #EachforEqual, which promotes the concept that an equal world is an enabled world and individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.

The automobile industry has a reputation for being a male-dominated sector. Nissan South Africa’s top women are proving that gender is not a barrier to success.

Chantelle Mashego, a Senior Manager responsible for delivering the locally produced Nissan Navara has been at Nissan for 11 years and understands the complexities of building a vehicle. “I’ve worked hard to grow through the ranks from a contracted engineer to holding roles in vehicle quality, parts quality and more. In that time, I’ve also held international roles including a stint at Nissan Spain, returning to South Africa with new skills and experiences,” says Mashego.

Melicia Bala who is Nissan South Africa’s acting Human Resource Lead, ensures that only the best talent is recruited to build the latest version of the Nissan Navara. “At Nissan South Africa, we strive to be an employer of choice in the automotive industry and attract and retain the best talent in the industry.”

Nissan South Africa provides training to ensure that top candidates are equipped with the necessary skills to grow and develop within the organisation. Support is provided through on the job training where employees are exposed to simulations, best practice and benchmarking.

“As successful female executives, there is a responsibility to empower other women, to mentor, encourage and engage with them regarding our learnings over years” says Liz Gorbunov, General Manager: Chief Marketing Manager, Light Commercial Vehicles and Sport Utility Vehicles at Nissan South Africa.

Nissan has the best and widest LCV range offering in South Africa and leading this portfolio is a female executive with in-depth expertise of the automotive industry.