Nissan Motor Co. will soon ramp up its production capacity at the Smyrna, Tennessee plant. This plant is the biggest in its American portfolio. The automaker aims to “max out” the plant’s operational potential in response to President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles. This smart strategic play comes amid efforts to further stabilize Nissan’s U.S.-based operations. All of which has created huge challenges for those operations in recent years.
At 6 million square feet, the Smyrna plant is pretty impressive. By running around the clock across three shifts, it is capable of producing 640,000 vehicles annually. Currently, the facility operates on three shifts, keeping about 9,000 workers busy. In addition to building the Nissan Altima, they run a second shift on the Frontier model. At full capacity last year, the facility cranked out nearly 314,500 vehicles with about 5,700 hourly employees.
That factory makes four different models—the stylish, yet popular, nimble Nissan Rogue. This car model has grown to be the Nissan’s best selling vehicle in the U.S. Beyond vehicle assembly, the plant’s capabilities extend to electric drive systems. Nissan runs a major powertrain facility in Tennessee and another assembly plant in Canton, Miss. Collectively, Nissan’s U.S. facilities have the capacity to produce more than 1 million vehicles and 1.4 million engines per year.
This article was posted by our partners at Smart Growth America. They’ve cut prices on most models to pump up demand and to speed their plans to ramp up domestic production. The Rogue and Pathfinder, for instance, have cut MSRPs by $640 to almost $2,000. This strategic shift demonstrates the firm’s commitment to retaining a competitive edge in today’s negative growth environment.
Nissan’s leadership is looking ahead with great hope of increasing domestic production and adding new models. Christian Meunier, Nissan’s North America chairman, emphasized the company’s flexibility in responding to market conditions.
“The good thing is, we have flexibility. We have an ability for us to accelerate, to do things faster than we would have normally,” – Christian Meunier
Meunier was quick to note that movements to localize production began well in advance of the tariffs taking effect. This joint collaborative and proactive approach is intended to support superior U.S. operations.
“I was already working on it before the tariff, because I’m convinced that localization is the way,” – Christian Meunier
Nissan hopes to shore up its home-country footprint by establishing hybrid production lines at the Smyrna plant. They’ve got ambitions to bring additional new products, including an Infiniti nameplate.
Meunier was cautiously optimistic on the tariffs, arguing for a more nuanced and nuanced approach to trade policies.
“Hopefully there will be solutions that don’t hurt completely, to a full extent at 25% because that’s a lot,” – Christian Meunier
He continued that flexibility and compromise would be necessary for the automotive industry to responsibly address such challenges.
“Hopefully there will be a compromise in between,” – Christian Meunier
Nissan is getting ready to expand its EV production capacity. They’re still hoping to introduce new models into the U.S. market.
“We can increase production, as I described on the existing models that we have in the U.S., and commit to a plan to bring a product the next two years… or a couple products to the U.S. market. But it cannot happen overnight,” – Christian Meunier