NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 16, 2004) - Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) today announced it will expand its engine assembly plant in Decherd, Tenn., to produce crankshaft forgings for the engines it manufactures for all Nissan and Infiniti vehicles built at the company's two U.S. manufacturing plants.
Some of the forgings will be exported to Nissan's Aguascalientes, Mexico, plant for vehicles manufactured there.
The expansion -- a forging plant to be built on the northeastern side of the current facility -- will add 50,000 square feet to the existing plant. Construction is to begin next spring with the forging process to start late summer 2006. When at full production, the new plant will produce 1 million crankshaft forgings annually.
The company will invest $47.3 million to develop the new facility, which will require approximately 60-70 employees for its operation.
"Nissan was able to consider adding this new capability in Tennessee because of a number of reasons, including the competitive and positive business climate currently found in the state, evidenced by recent changes such as the Governor's support of workers compensation reform and a commitment to improving education in Tennessee, as well as the presence of a skilled, highly motivated workforce," said Dan Gaudette, senior vice president, North American Manufacturing and Quality Assurance for Nissan North America. "We're excited about the possibilities this new facility will offer us as Nissan continues its quest towards our global growth objectives."
"Nissan is a valued corporate citizen and I'm especially proud of its continued and growing commitment to our state's workforce," said Governor Bredesen. "The company's decision to build another facility in Tennessee signals the industry's confidence in the strength of our workforce and in our state's business climate."
Opened in May 1997, the 960,000 square foot Decherd powertrain assembly plant has a capacity for building 950,000 engines and 300,000 transaxles annually. It builds all the engines for the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles manufactured in the United States, including a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder, a 3.5 liter 6 cylinder, a 4.0 liter 6 cylinder and a 5.6 liter 8 cylinder. One of the engines it produces - the 3.5-liter V6 VQ - has been named to Ward's Communications' "Ten Best Engines" list for each of the last 10 years.
The forging plant, which will house a 6,500-ton forging press, will be located adjacent to the current engine machining plant and connected via a corridor.
"This addition will allow us to manufacture a key engine component next to where they'll be machined and assembled," Gaudette said, "This will allow us to better control transportation and inventory costs, while helping us get our cars and trucks to the consumer quickly and efficiently."
Since Nissan first established a manufacturing presence in the United States in 1980, the company has invested over $4.5 billion in its three U.S. manufacturing facilities. The three plants combined employ approximately 12,000 employees. The Smyrna, Tenn., plant builds Nissan Maxima sports sedans, Nissan Xterra sport utility vehicles, Nissan Frontier compact pickup trucks, Nissan Altima midsize sedans and the all-new Nissan Pathfinder mid-size SUV. The Canton, Miss., plant builds the Nissan Quest minivan, the Titan full-size pick-up truck, the Armada full-size SUV, the Infiniti QX56 full-size luxury SUV and additional Altima sedans.
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. More information on Nissan and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles in the United States can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com.
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