Mississippi Shows That Southern Hospitality For Nissan Pick-up Factory

Atlanta Georgia May 26,2003; Betty Liu writing for the Financial Times.Com reported that Nissan will open a $1.4 billion plant in Canton, Mississippi,today, signaling the emergence of the Japanese carmaker in the competitive US pick-up truck market and highlighting Mississippi's aggressive approach to promoting the local economy.

Two years in the making, the plant is an achievement for both carmaker and state: a gleaming 2.5m square foot complex that promises to employ 5,300 workers and is central to Nissan's goal of improving US sales and competing with the Big Three carmakers - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, the US unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler - in the lucrative pick-up truck market.

Nissan, which is controlled by Renault of France, is playing catch-up with rivals Toyota and Honda in the US in some vehicle segments.

The company plans to roll out 400,000 units by next year at the plant - its first in the US since 1983 - including the full-size Titan pick-up truck and the newly redesigned Quest mini-van. Its other plant is in Smyrna, Tennessee.

For Mississippi, the plant is the biggest foreign investment in years - a huge boon to an economy struggling with a declining manufacturing sector. About 103 manufacturers left the state last year, taking with them 10,000 jobs.

Mississippi put up $363m in tax breaks and incentives for Nissan, beating other states including Alabama, which already is home to plants owned by Honda, Mercedes Benz and Toyota.

Over the past few years, foreign carmakers have increasingly chosen the south to locate plants, encouraged by the incentive packages and the skilled, cheap, non-unionised labour.

But the importance of the plant is also not lost on the small town of Canton, which dubbed this week "Nissan Week".

Hotels are booked up with people flooding in from nearby Jackson, the state capital, to join in the festivities, which include appearances by Ronnie Musgrove, the Mississippi governor, and Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chief executive.

"It's an exciting time for us," said Fred Esco, Canton's mayor, who this month unveiled a new logo for the town: Rich History, Bright Future.

"With the opening of Nissan, we definitely have a bright future and we wanted to recognise that," he said.

Auto suppliers who have moved into the area in anticipation of the plant have already generated 3,600 jobs. To help the Japanese families who will be moving into the area, Mr Esco said he was contemplating providing Japanese-language classes in local schools.

The city built a new $1m fire station to accommodate the new growth, though it is struggling with how to pay for the firefighters.

"It's exciting to see the tremendous growth," said Mr Esco. But, he added, "we have to plan it right".