With more than 4.360.000 units sold in 2019, Nissan ended at the fifth place of the world’s best-selling car brands. A huge part of these vehicles was sold in the USA and while we are waiting for the exact numbers, we will introduce you with main assemblies where these great car models are made. Nissan currently has three assemblies in the United States, but there are also a couple of facilities in Mexico, where models for the North American market are also made. Finally, keep in mind that, like other Japanese manufacturers, Nissan also keeps production of certain models in Japan. This particularly refers to sports cars and full-size SUVs.
U.S. Facilities
As we’ve just mentioned, Nissan currently has three assemblies across the U.S. Two of them are located in Tennessee, while the third one is located in Mississippi.
Smyrna Assembly, Tennessee
This is the oldest and also the biggest Nissan assembly in North America. In was founded back in the early 1980s, as the demand for Nissan cars in North America was becoming bigger and bigger. Today, this facility employs more than 8.000 workers and the number of assembled vehicles every year is pretty huge. So far, almost 11 million vehicles have been assembled in this factory.
One of the first models that started production here is Sentra. The famous sedan has been in production in this assembly since 1985, while the first model from Smyrna was actually a pickup truck in 1983. These days, some of the most popular Nissan models are assembled here, starting from the Rogue, Altima, Maxima and Pathfinder. Also, the all-electric Nissan Leaf is assembled here.
Decher Assembly, Tennessee
Another assembly located in Tennessee. Unlike the first factory, where complete vehicles are assembled, workers in this plant are focused on just one, but most important part of Nissan’s vehicle, engines. The plant started to work in 1997 and millions of engines came out from it so far. It is also a pretty large assembly, a 1.1-million-square-foot facility, which employs more than 1.600 workers.
Here is one interesting fact about assembly in Decher. Every 19 seconds a new engine comes out from the track, while the total production capacity goes over 1.4 million engines per year. In this plant, most Nissan engines are produced, including those that power popular models like Rogue, Altima, Armada, Titan etc. Also, electric motors for the Leaf are produced here.
Canton Assembly, Mississippi
The newest Nissan assembly in the U.S. is located in Canton, Mississippi. It started in 2003 but was expanded meanwhile, so now employs more than 6.500 workers. With such numbers, it’s no wonder that numerous vehicles are produced here. The focus is largely on trucks and commercial vehicles, such as Titan, Frontier, NV Cargo and NV Passenger. However, crossovers and passenger cars are also assembled here. Some of the most popular models are Altima and Murano.
Nissan Plants in Mexico
Nissan models for the North American market are also produced in Mexico. There are two assemblies and you may presume that these plants are focused on more affordable, entry-level models. Therefore, the Nissan Aguascalientes plant produces a whole bunch of small cars for the U.S. and global markets. Some of the models are Sentra, Versa, Versa Note, Micra etc. On the other side, the plant in Cuernavaca assembles a light commercial vehicle called NV200.
Made In Japan Vehicles
Like other Japanese carmakers, Nissan also keeps production of certain models in Japan. The reason is quite obvious, as Japanese workers still make the highest-quality cars in the world. When it comes to durability and reliability, there is no match for Japanese-made cars.
In the current lineup, you can find two old but still impressive sports cars that are made in Nissan Tochigi Plant, Kaminokawa. Of course, we are talking about the legendary Z Car and astonishing GT-R supercar, which is still one of the best performers in the world, despite the age.
Also, the flagship full-size SUV, Nissan Armada is assembled in Yukuhashi plant, along with its international twin, Patrol.
Those would be the most important Nissan plants when it comes to models for the Noth American market. Of course, the Japanese manufacturer has numerous plants all over the world, where models for other markets are built.
