Mubasher: Nissan Motor Company is looking to launch new models in the Gulf as part of a plan to ratchet up its market share in GCC countries and Egypt to more than 20% by 2022.

The Japanese automaker’s current market share in the Gulf and Egypt stands at 16% and 15%, respectively, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

“We want to double our industrial footprint in the Middle East, Africa and India by 2022,” Peyman Kargar, chairman of Nissan's operations in Africa, Middle East and India, told the New York-based news agency in an interview.

Nissan currently comes in third place in Egypt's car market and the second in the Gulf, according to Arabian Business. 

He added that Nissan is looking to boost its production facilities in the region to more than six.

The Yokohama-based auto manufacturer has three factories in Egypt, India, and South Africa, and has plans to add other two plants in Pakistan and Algeria.

Kargar pointed out that Nissan has invested $200 million in Egypt since it began operating the Arab world's most populous country in 2005, and it plans to inject more investments in the company’s fiscal year starting in April.

The auto manufacturer seeks to raise the full capacity of its plant in Egypt to 28,000 cars per year, instead of the current 22,000.

The Japanese company is facing a challenge in the Egyptian market regarding the government’s move to exempt imported cars from the European Union (EU) from customs duties in the short and medium term.

“We asked them to support the local industry to be able to compete, to not put us in a less competitive situation,” Peyman commented.