Nissan Building $930 Mil. U.S. Plant

JACKSON, Miss.--Nissan is building a $930 million manufacturing plant in Madison County, Miss. 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 Nissan’s first full-size pickup truck, a debut 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,” said Carlos Ghosn, president of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

“Without this investment, we cannot expand our lineup in North America and grow our business,” Ghosn said. “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.”

The venture is part of the Nissan Revival Plan, known as the NRP.

“This move would not have been possible without the quick start and strong performance unleashed by the NRP,” said Ghosn. 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.

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, he said.

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.

Nissan introduced the first compact import truck to North America in 1959.

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.

For additional information, contact www.nissandriven.com.