Renault Samsung will assemble the redesigned Nissan Rogue crossover at its Busan plant from the second half of next year.
Nissan US said recently the ‘old’ model, built in Kyushu, Japan, would continue alongside the redesigned model (called X-Trail elsewhere) and would be renamed Rogue Select.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Colin Dodge, Nissan’s chief performance officer, said: “The Busan plant has already shared logistical processes with Kyushu and has been leading synergy creation through strategic cooperation.”
The current Rogue is Nissan’s second best-selling vehicle in the US behind the Altima sedan. The carmaker sold 113,316 of the crossovers during the January-August period of this year in North America, up 16% from a year ago.
Nissan will soon start producing the redesigned Rogue at its Smyrna factory in Tennessee but has had to adjust the supply volume due to higher than expected sales of the current model.
Under the agreement, from 2014, the Korean unit will produce 80,000 new Rogues annually which will all be exported to North America, about 60% of the Busan factory’s annual output of 150,000.
It will also provide a boost to Renault Samsung which has been suffering sluggish sales in South Korea although the company said there are no plans to sell the locally produced Rogue in Korea.
Nissan to build Rogue/X-Trail in nine plants
