Japan’s second-biggest carmaker is set to build an assembly plant in the northern city of Dalian.
Nissan Motor Co, now the largest Japanese automaker in China, will build a CNY 5 billion ($785 million) assembly plant in Dalian, Liaoning province, as part of a CNY 30 billion ($4.72 billion) investment project in China through 2015. The factory will begin production in 2014 with an initial capacity of 25,000 vehicles, increasing dramatically to 120,000 units by 2015, and again to 240,000 by 2017.
According to an industry source, the new factory will produce the brand’s more upscale vehicles, such as the SUVs, sedans and MPVs as Nissan seeks to compete with its rivals Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors. The news comes as the company is also forecasting an increase in output for its luxury brand, Infiniti.
The new base in Dalian, the northeast’s wealthiest coastal city, is strategically important as it will give the aspiring brand quick access to a regional market where Toyota and Volkswagen have thrived for years. The city also attracted fellow Japanese carmaker Subaru, which was denied the application to build a factory there.