Nissan’s first production plant in Russia, the company’s biggest European market, was officially opened today by CEO Carlos Ghosn and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
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The factory in St Petersburg joins those of Toyota and Ford making the city what Russia likes to call “the Russian Detroit.”
Ghosn said the decision to press ahead with the factory in the current conditions “underlines our confidence in the high potential of the Russian economy. With the start of production at our new plant Nissan become an integral part of the local community.”
Fujio Hosaka, General Director of Nissan Manufacturing Russia, said: “The St. Petersburg plant allows Nissan to localize our production and contribute to the development of the domestic auto industry. We hope to support to the local economy by creating employment opportunities, sharing of advanced technologies and development of the supply chain.”
The plant will initially employ 750 on a single shift with an annual capacity of 50,000. The first products to be built there will be the Teana saloon and X-Trail compact SUV. Nissan says that it currently has a 5.7% share of the Russian market where sales this year have collapsed by 44% in the first four months over year-ago levels to 413,156 units. Globally, Russia ranks as Nissan’s fifth largest market.
