Nissan Creates Company in Charge of Kyushu Plant

In a bid to increase its importance on the home market by making the management process of its plants easier, Japanese automaker Nissan announced today the establishment of a new company, one that would run the destiny of one of its most important facilities in Japan: the Kyushu Plant.

To be called Nissan Motor Kyushu, the new company will be led by Yukinobu Kodama, the current manager of the facility. The establishment of the company comes after Nissan kicked off negotiations with the All Nissan Motors Workers' Union back in October 2010, to create the framework that would give the new company the needed kickstart.

“The auto industry is facing a major turning point. The continued strengthening of the yen against foreign currencies, prolonged global economic downturn, emergence of competitors from emerging countries, shift in the domestic market to compact cars, and introduction of electrically-powered vehicles due to the growing concern over energy and environmental issues, has made the market environment as challenging as ever,” Nisssan said in a statement.

At the Kyushu facility, Nissan is currently manufacturing the Serena, Teana, Lafesta, X-TRAIL, Dualis, Murano, Rogue and Almera (the last two models for export only). The new company will have a payroll that will incorporate 3,760 people and will be in charge with manufacturing 430,000 units each year.

“In order for Nissan to grow further as a global automotive company, there is a need to establish a production base in Japan which is globally competitiveness and capable of continue producing compact vehicles in the future. Establishing this new company is one important step to enable Nissan to maintain its domestic production capacity around one million units,” the manufacturer adds.