Nissan invests $2 billion in Mexican plant

MEXICO CITY—Nissan Motor Co. is investing $2 billion to build a new manufacturing plant in Mexico, creating 3,000 jobs.

It will be the Japanese company's third in the country, helping it serve markets throughout the Americas.

The company says construction of the plant in the northern state of Aguascalientes will begin this summer and production should start by the end of next year.

The plant is projected to have the capacity to produce 175,000 vehicles a year, focusing on “B” platform vehicles, which include the Versa, March and Tiida.

Nissan already has two manufacturing centres in Mexico. A plant in Cuernavaca, 85 kilometres south of Mexico City, produces small cars and light trucks, while an existing plant in Aguascalientes builds small cars for the Mexican, U.S. and Latin American markets.

The Japanese automaker produced more than 600,000 vehicles in Mexico last year, selling a reported 1.56 million vehicles throughout the Americas.

Nissan topped sales in Mexico last year with more than 224,000 vehicles, nearly 25 per cent of the country’s market share.

The company's production in Mexico includes its March, Sentra, Versa, Tiida autos, NP300 light trucks and the aging, but still popular Tsuru, widely used as a taxi.