Nissan Motor Co plans to double its automobile production in China, its biggest market, to more than 2 million units a year by the end of 2015 as it shifts its focus to emerging countries, Japan’s Nikkei business daily reported.
Nissan will maintain its Japanese output at about 1 million units a year, the Nikkei said. Nissan spokesman Christopher Keeffe declined to comment on the report, saying details of its China plans would be revealed on Tuesday at a midterm announcement.
The Japanese automaker will add assembly lines at a plant in Zhengzhou, in central China’s Henan Province, where it will build its low-priced China-only brand Venucia slated for launch in 2012, the paper said.
Nissan plans to raise capacity by 70 percent by the end of the year at a plant in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, also in central China, the Nikkei reported. It will also begin operating a second plant at its main Chinese production base in Guangzhou in 2012, the Nikkei said.Nissan will consider manufacturing Infiniti brand luxury vehicles locally instead of relying on imports from Japan, the paper said, adding that boosting Chinese engine production and lowering costs are also on the company’s to-do list in China.
The Chinese expansion will include the Dongfeng brand vehicles of joint venture partner Dongfeng Motor Group Co, the Nikkei said. In 2012, Nissan plans to assemble 1.2 million automobiles in China, beating Toyota Motor Co and Honda Motor Co by large margins, the paper reported.
Last month, Nissan unveiled a six-year growth plan targeting a global market share of 8 percent by the 2016/17 financial year, compared with 5.8 percent in 2010/11.Nissan shares gained 1.2 percent in early trading in Tokyo compared with a 0.3 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei 225.