Dongfeng Nissan Begins Construction of Second Huadu Facility

Following growing demand especially in the local market, Dongfeng Nissan revealed that it started construction of the second production facility in Huadu. The joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Group and Nissan Motor Company sold a total of 53,000 units in July but, due to small output, approximately 33,000 ordered vehicles had to be pushed to the next month production schedule. As a result, the two companies decided to build a second plant that will increase its annual production figures to 600,000 units.

The new production line will be operational in 2012 and is intended to ultimately increase annual capacity from 360,000 units to 600,000, 40,000 units more than initially said. The expansion will cost Nissan some $730 million. For the time being, total Dongfeng Motors Chinese output, from both the Huadu and the Xiangfan plant amounts to 460,000 units per year. After the new line is complete, that output will increase to 700,000 units.

"The new production line will help us meet the three objectives of our mid-term business plan," Kimiyasu Nakamura Dongfeng Motors president said. "With this expansion, we will reach a sufficient capacity to achieve our sales target by 2012 with the aim to produce first-class, quality products at the appropriate delivery timing and to accelerate clean production by reducing CO2, SO2 and COD (chemical oxygen demand), hallmarks of a trusted company."

At this time, the joint venture is building and selling a number of Nissan models in China, including the New Sylphy (Xuanyi) sedan and, thanks to the new facility, Dongfeng Nissan will expand its product range by adding a couple of new vehicles. Their names are yet to be unveiled but more details are expected to surface at a later date.