Nissan Motor on Wednesday (25 January) said it would spend up to US$2bn on a new manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to support its Americas growth strategy.
The facility, Nissan’s third factory in Mexico, is scheduled to begin operations in late 2013. During the initial phase of its development, the new complex will produce up to 175,000 units annually on the automaker’s ‘B’ platform.
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“Further expansion of the site will be considered in phases as product and capacity needs are formalised,” Nissan said.
The new complex in Aguascalientes will allow Nissan’s existing and future operations to share critical resources, the automaker added, saying a new supplier park also will be built on the site.
Up to 3,000 direct jobs will be created initially at the new facility, with approximately 9,000 positions to be generated within the supply chain and wider community. With these additional jobs, Nissan’s total employment in Mexico will expand to nearly 13,500.
“Mexico is a key engine for Nissan’s growth in the Americas,” said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer, Nissan Motor. “Together with our new plant in Brazil, this new manufacturing facility in Aguascalientes is an important pillar in our strategy to ensure that Nissan has the capacity it needs to increase sales volume and market share across the Americas.”
Nissan said it considered other Mexican locations but selected the state of Aguascalientes for its proximity to its existing manufacturing plant in the same state, which offers direct access to skilled labour and suppliers.
The addition of the incremental production site in Aguascalientes will allow Nissan to produce ove 1m units annually in Mexico in the midterm.
Nissan currently has two factories in Mexico – one 85 km south of Mexico City in Cuernavaca, which produces small cars, light commercials and pickup trucks, and a second in Aguascalientes that produces small cars like the Versa/Tiida line for the domestic, US and Latin American markets. In 2011, Nissan set a domestic production record with more than 600,000 vehicles manufactured in Mexico.
The first phase of development at the new Aguascalientes site will include installation of body, trim and chassis and paint facilities as well as associated parts warehousing and logistics operations. An on-site test track also will be constructed to allow for off-line quality assurance testing of all production.
“No other automaker is investing in Mexico more than Nissan,” claimed Jose Munoz, president and general director, Nissan Mexico.
Nissans recently said it would build a new manufacturing facility in Resende in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. That factory will begin production in the first half of 2014.
In 2011, Nissan’s Amercas sales outpaced the automotive industry, rising 17.2% to 1,561,230 units.
Nissan’s current Mexican production includes the March, Sentra, Versa, Tiida, the historically popular Tsuru, as well as the NP300 light trucks. Seventy percent of production is exported to 100 markets. Approximately, 80% of vehicle content is made in Mexico and the company currently sells 22 vehicle lines there.
