Nissan’s new B-car plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, will open in late 2013 and bring the auto maker’s direct employment in the country to nearly 13,500.
That will make the Japanese auto maker nearly as big in Mexico as Volkswagen, which employs more than 15,000 workers at its sprawling Puebla complex.
Nissan also expects “approximately 9,000” indirect positions to be generated within the supply chain.
In a conference call with media today, Nissan officials say an all-new supplier park will be built at the upcoming Aguascalientes site, but the 9,000 indirect jobs includes some outside that zone.
The auto maker is not disclosing the exact location of the new factory, nor is it willing to reveal how far it is from its existing Aguascalientes plant, which company officials describe as too “full” for expansion.
Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn calls Mexico “a key engine for Nissan’s growth in the Americas.
“Together with our new plant in Brazil, this new manufacturing facility in Aguascalientes is an important pillar in our strategy to ensure that Nissan has the capacity it needs to increase sales volume and market share across the Americas,” he says in a statement.
Bill Krueger, Nissan Americas vice chairman, tells media during the conference call that Mexico “is a great central point to deliver north and deliver south. We’ve got significant demand in both directions.”
The new factory will produce 175,000 units annually at full strength in its first phase. Another phase to the plant will be considered pending market conditions.
Nissan officials says the $2 billion investment is significant, but that it includes future, unspecified production, as well as the cost of land development for the vehicle plant and supplier park.
There is no word on the exact models to be built. In addition to the U.S.-market Versa subcompact, other B-platform cars Nissan already assembles in Mexico for Latin America include the Tiida (a Versa twin) and the March and Tsuru.
The Tsuru is one of the longest-running and best-selling vehicles in Mexico, while the Versa is the No.1-selling subcompact in the U.S.
Nissan has a goal to localize production of 85% of its Americas models by 2015, a hedge against the strengthening yen that is eroding the profitability of exports from Japan.
In addition to its existing site in Aguascalientes, which makes the Versa and Sentra compact for the U.S. market, Nissan also has a small-car and commercial-vehicle plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The auto maker has been manufacturing in Mexico for more than 50 years. Last year, it assembled 607,087 of the country’s total 2.54 million light vehicles, WardsAuto data shows. Aguascalientes, with 360,796 units built, accounted for the bulk of Nissan’s 2011 output in the country.
Nissan was the No.1 auto maker in Mexico last year, selling 224,740 units, up 18.6% compared with 2010.
During various appearances in Detroit during the North American International Auto Show earlier this month, Ghosn, citing Nissan’s need for additional manufacturing capacity in the U.S., promised further expansion here in coming years.
In coming months, Nissan will add production of the new Infiniti JX cross/utility vehicle at its Smyrna, TN, plant, and late in the year it will begin production of the Leaf electric car at Smyrna.
