Four Millionth Vehicle Milestone Achieved By Nissan U.S.A. Assembly Plant
9 December 1997
Four Millionth Vehicle Milestone Achieved By Nissan U.S.A. Assembly Plant
SMYRNA, Tenn., Dec. 8 -- The four millionth vehicle built at
Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee plant rolled off the assembly line today, nearly
15 years after Job 1 began at Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corporation (NMMC)
U.S.A., Nissan's award-winning assembly plant.
"I'm proud of this milestone and the 6,300 Tennesseans who helped achieve
it," said Jerry Benefield, president and CEO of NMMC. "Thanks to the
experience and expertise of our employees, we've accomplished a great deal in
our brief history."
As the pioneer of America's Southern automakers, Nissan was the first to
locate in the Southeast, launching U.S. production in 1983 with a compact
pickup truck. Two years later, the Sentra car was added. In 1992 the first
Altima sedan came off line, as did the first major stamping parts and engines
for the Nissan Quest and Mercury Villager minivans, a joint project with Ford
Motor Co. in Ohio.
In 1994, the first 200SX sports coupe was produced. And this year, the
first expansion of the plant outside of Smyrna with the launch of Altima
engine production at a new facility in Decherd, Tenn.
Altogether, the Nissan plants represent $1.43 billion investment in
Tennessee. "With the experience of four million vehicles behind us, we look
forward to an exciting future," said Benefield.
Throughout the production of four million vehicles, the Smyrna plant has
won some of the top manufacturing awards in the industry. For four years in a
row, it has been named the most productive car and truck plant in North
America by The Harbour Report, a prestigious auto industry survey. The plant
is also listed in the book by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, "The 100
Best Companies to Work for in America." The Altima placed first in its segment
in the J.D. Power and Associates 1997 Initial Quality Study for the second
consecutive year and this year the 200SX ranked at the top of its segment.
The December 1997 issue of Consumers Digest named both the Altima and Sentra
as a "Best Buy."
Next spring, the Decherd plant will begin building transaxles for the
Altima and Quest/Villager, adding more employees. In 1999, the Smyrna plant
will begin producing a compact sport-utility vehicle as Sentra production
moves to a plant in Mexico.
In North America, Nissan's operations include styling, engineering,
manufacturing, sales, consumer and corporate financing, and industrial textile
equipment. Nissan in North America employs more than 20,000 people in the
U.S., Canada and Mexico, and generates more than 70,000 jobs through more than
1,500 Nissan and Infiniti dealerships across the continent. More information
on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti
vehicles can be found online at http://www.nissan-na.com.
SOURCE Nissan North America, Inc.
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