Nissan goes for annual output of 370,000 units

Production at the new plant will commence in August 2014 with an initial annual capacity of 75,000 units before achieving maximum capacity by 2016.
“The new facility will keep Thailand as our largest manufacturing centre in the Asean region,” said Hiroto Saikawa, executive vice president of Nissan Motor Co.
“This investment is an important component to achieve the goals of our corporate mid-term business plan, Nissan Power 88 – to increase market share and sustain business growth in this very important region.”
According to the global “Nissan Power 88” plan announced by its chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn, the company wants to elevate the Nissan brand and raise global market share to 8 per cent, along with an 8-per-cent rise in operating profits – the two “8s” in the name of the plan – by 2016.
In Thailand, the regional Nissan “Power Up 2016” business plan includes a target of 15-per-cent market share by 2016, while expanding the number of showrooms and service centres to 250.
The regional plan also involves an eco-car project in Indonesia, strengthening domestic research and development and engine production by increasing staff at the Nissan Technical Centre Asia-Pacific, raising regional production from 400,000 units per year to 700,000 to cater to the Asean market growth, and setting up Nissan Motor Asia-Pacific in Thailand to serve as its regional headquarters.
Nissan’s Asean production is expected to reach 400,000 units this year.
“Adding 150,000 units of production capacity will not only enable us to raise our competitiveness in the domestic market, but will ensure Thailand’s position as a key strategic global export hub for Nissan,” Saikawa said.
Currently, Nissan has one assembly facility in Thailand that produces passenger cars and pickup trucks. It is on Bang Na-Trat Road Kilometre 21 in Samut Prakan province. The plant employs 6,000 people and has an annual production capacity of 220,000 units.
Because of a lack of production capacity, Nissan has been hiring Mitsubishi to assemble 40,000 of its Navara pickups per year. However, Nissan’s pickup production will be relocated from Laem Chabang to the new plant once it is operational.
Nissan has also raised its domestic sales target for this year by 10 per cent from 120,000 units to 132,000, thanks to the popularity of the government’s first-car-buyer tax-refund scheme.
The new plant will also be on Bang Na-Trat Road and will serve the growing demands for Nissan vehicles in both the domestic and regional markets. Once the second facility is fully operational, the company will have a combined production capacity of 370,000 units per year.
The new plant will hire 2,000 people and make Thailand Nissan’s major production and export centre for the Asean region.
“This investment is a key factor in achieving our target of 15-per-cent market share in Thailand by 2016, as outlined in our local mid-term business plan, Power Up 2016,” said Takayuki Kimura, president of Nissan Motor (Thailand). “Strengthening our operations here confirms Nissan’s commitment to and confidence in the Thai market. I am also excited that this new plant will add 2,000 new jobs to the Thai economy.”
Nissan, which established its local business entity in 1952, was the first Japanese automobile company in Thailand.