Nissan to make 200,000/y in Brazil

Nissan has opened its US$1 billion assembly plant in Resende, Brazil.

According to Nissan the plant will have a production rate capacity of 200,000 vehicles and engines a year, making it one of the largest investments by any manufacturer in Brazil.

The factory will employ 1,500 people, a number expected to grow to 2,000.

According to Nissan, the complex performs all “facets of automotive production”, including sheet metal stamping and facilities for testing vehicles.

The Nissan industrial complex of Resende is fundamental to achieving growth objectives in Brazil, according to Nissan.

“Our goal is to achieve five per cent market share and to lead the Japanese automakers in quality and customer service in Brazil by 2016,” noted Nissan chairman and chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn.

The plant builds Nissan’s Platform V vehicles and engines, beginning with the March and the 1.6-litre 16-valve flexfuel engine.

Some 300 members of the plant’s staff have spent three months training at Nissan plants in Japan, Mexico and the US. The plant’s quality control team trained for six months in Japan and Mexico.

Four suppliers have set up facilities on Nissan’s supplier park while two operate within the plant itself. Suppliers include Tachi-S (seats), Yorozo (suspension units), Kinugawa (rubber seals), Calsonic Kansei (cockpit components), Mitsui Steel (steel)  and Sanoh (brakes and fuel pipes).

The company is setting a target of 80 per cent local content by 2016.

Nissan announced its Brazilian investment in October 2011, following a decision by the country to increase IPI excise tax on vehicles with less than 65 per cent of components sourced in Brazil or the Mercosur block.

According to IHS Automotive’s production forecast, Renault-Nissan’s production in Brazil will account for 4.7 per cent of the company’s global production with Resende accounting for 69,000 units and the San Jose Pinhais facility building 340,000 units.

Renault-Nissan is forecast to make 8.6 million vehicles in 2016, lifting this to 9.5 million by 2020.

Automobile production in Brazil is forecast to reach 3.37 million by 2016 with Renault-Nissan contributing 12 per cent of the total. ∎