250,000-unit Plant Confirms
Nissan’s Expansion in North America
Nissan today announced it
will build a $930 million manufacturing plant in Madison County, Miss. This
marks Nissan’s first significant step toward building lasting profitable growth
under the Nissan Revival Plan (NRP).
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“This move would not
have been possible without the quick start and strong performance unleashed
by the NRP,” Carlos Ghosn, president of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., stated at a
news conference at the State Capitol in Jackson. Last week, Nissan released
preliminary first half financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31,
2001, with net income of $1.58 billion (170.2 billion yen), the best six-month
period in a decade.
Construction of the 250,000-unit
plant located 15 miles north of Jackson is scheduled to begin in April of 2001.
When fully operational, the plant will employ up to 4,000 people. Production
of the first vehicle is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2003.
The plant will produce a
full-size pickup truck, a full-size sport-utility vehicle and the next generation
Nissan minivan. These all-new vehicles will enable Nissan to enter the popular
full-size truck and SUV segment as well as enhance its presence in the minivan
market in the United States.
“Without this investment,
we cannot expand our lineup in North America and grow our business,” Mr. Ghosn
added. “Building the right products in the right markets is a basic ingredient
to create a foundation for solid profitable growth. It will allow us to increase
our responsiveness to the market, decrease our costs and reduce our exposure
to currency fluctuations.”
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By GlobalData“Mississippi is proud
to welcome Nissan as a leading corporate citizen,” said Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.
“We look forward to the job opportunities and positive economic impact
that will be created by Nissan, as well as Nissan’s outstanding record of producing
high-quality vehicles and supporting state and local community activities.
“Nissan is a dynamic
company with vibrant global presence, one that is committed to profitable growth,”
Musgrove added. “We are excited that the people of Mississippi will play
a part in that growth.”
The factors that led to
the selection of the Mississippi site include an available, high-quality work
force, a good site and infrastructure, a supportive business climate, and excellent
cooperation and commitment from leaders at the state, local and federal levels.
Nissan’s investment for
this plant is in addition to the $1 billion planned in the next four years to
expand its engine production capabilities in Decherd, Tenn., and maximize vehicle
production capacity utilization at its Smyrna, Tenn. plant. The new plant will
join existing North American vehicle manufacturing facilities in Smyrna and
Aguascalientes and Cuernavaca, Mexico, bringing Nissan’s capacity in North America
to 1.15 million units.
This fiscal year the company
is well on track to sell the 1 million units it has forecast in North America,
based on its current lineup.
For the period of fiscal
year 2000 though 2002, the U.S. will receive 10 new products of the 22 Nissan
has announced globally under the NRP. These products will come even before the
vehicles from this facility begin to hit the market in 2003. Nissan has decided
on this investment, also taking into consideration its forecast that the U.S.
market will soften in the short and mid-term.
The company commented that
the investment for the plant will not change its commitment to reduce net automotive
debt to less than 700 billion yen ($6.54 billion) by FY 2002. In the preliminary
financial announcement made last week, Nissan revealed it was well on target
with its plan to retire net automotive debt. Nissan is working with the state
of Mississippi and global banking partners to optimize the funding structure
of the investment.
Nissan’s first full-size
pickup and SUV and the next-generation minivan will join a lineup of award-winning
vehicles, including the Xterra sport-utility vehicle, Frontier compact pickup,
Frontier Crew Cab and Pathfinder. Nissan introduced the first compact import
truck to North America in 1959 and has continued to offer innovative products
in the compact truck segment ever since.
