Four Millionth Vehicle Milestone Achieved By Nissan U.S.A. Assembly Plant
9 December 1997
Four Millionth Vehicle Milestone Achieved By Nissan U.S.A. Assembly PlantSMYRNA, Tenn., Dec. 8 -- The four millionth vehicle built at Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee plant rolled off the assembly line today, nearly 15 years after Job 1 began at Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corporation (NMMC) U.S.A., Nissan's award-winning assembly plant. "I'm proud of this milestone and the 6,300 Tennesseans who helped achieve it," said Jerry Benefield, president and CEO of NMMC. "Thanks to the experience and expertise of our employees, we've accomplished a great deal in our brief history." As the pioneer of America's Southern automakers, Nissan was the first to locate in the Southeast, launching U.S. production in 1983 with a compact pickup truck. Two years later, the Sentra car was added. In 1992 the first Altima sedan came off line, as did the first major stamping parts and engines for the Nissan Quest and Mercury Villager minivans, a joint project with Ford Motor Co. in Ohio. In 1994, the first 200SX sports coupe was produced. And this year, the first expansion of the plant outside of Smyrna with the launch of Altima engine production at a new facility in Decherd, Tenn. Altogether, the Nissan plants represent $1.43 billion investment in Tennessee. "With the experience of four million vehicles behind us, we look forward to an exciting future," said Benefield. Throughout the production of four million vehicles, the Smyrna plant has won some of the top manufacturing awards in the industry. For four years in a row, it has been named the most productive car and truck plant in North America by The Harbour Report, a prestigious auto industry survey. The plant is also listed in the book by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, "The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America." The Altima placed first in its segment in the J.D. Power and Associates 1997 Initial Quality Study for the second consecutive year and this year the 200SX ranked at the top of its segment. The December 1997 issue of Consumers Digest named both the Altima and Sentra as a "Best Buy." Next spring, the Decherd plant will begin building transaxles for the Altima and Quest/Villager, adding more employees. In 1999, the Smyrna plant will begin producing a compact sport-utility vehicle as Sentra production moves to a plant in Mexico. In North America, Nissan's operations include styling, engineering, manufacturing, sales, consumer and corporate financing, and industrial textile equipment. Nissan in North America employs more than 20,000 people in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and generates more than 70,000 jobs through more than 1,500 Nissan and Infiniti dealerships across the continent. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at http://www.nissan-na.com. SOURCE Nissan North America, Inc. Photo http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/pub/pd/pdz?f=PRN/prnphotos&grid=2 or NewsCom, 305-448-8411; AP PhotoExpress Network, PRN5; PressLink Online, 800-888-6195