Nissan invests $170 million for Altima’s US assembly plants

Nissan North America has announced a $170 million (Rs 1,192 crore) investment in its Smyrna, Tennessee and Canton, Mississippi assembly plants to support the production of the 2019 Altima. The announcement came as the company celebrated the start of production of the sixth-generation sedan at its Smyrna facility. With this investment, Nissan has invested nearly $12 billion (Rs 84,198 crore) across its U.S. manufacturing footprint.

Heath Holtz, senior vice president, Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Purchasing, Nissan North America, "Nissan's continued investment in our manufacturing facilities underpins our commitment to building top-quality vehicles in the U.S., as well as our valued workforce and the communities where we do business."

Nissan's investment was used to upgrade Smyrna vehicle assembly plant and Canton vehicle assembly plant with the latest manufacturing technology. The upgrades include laser brazing system in the body shop, new polyurethane stone guard coat paint system for the paint shop, calibration equipment for ProPilot Assist technology.

The Smyrna vehicle assembly plant has been in operation for the past 35 years. The plant employs 8,400 people and has built more than 13 million vehicles since opening in 1983, with Altima accounting for nearly 4.6 million of those vehicles. Nissan Smyrna currently produces six models: Altima, LEAF, Maxima, Pathfinder, Rogue and Infiniti QX60. In 2017, Nissan Smyrna produced more than 628,000 vehicles, making it one of the highest-producing automotive assembly plants in North America. The Smyrna assembly line that produces Altima was recently recognized with a 2018 Bronze Plant Quality Award from J.D. Power, while Altima and Maxima sedans from that line ranked highest in their segments in the J.D. Power 2018 Initial Quality Study (IQS). 

Altima is the new mid-size sedan from Nissan. It comes with intelligent mobility safety and driving aid technologies, including ProPILOT Assist and introducing Safety Shield 360 with rear automatic braking. The car is also the first sedan from Nissan to get intelligent All-Wheel Drive. The car comes with two engine models, including the company's world's first production-ready variable compression turbo. The all-new Altima arrives on dealer lots in the U.S. by the end of this year and will be produced at Nissan Smyrna and Nissan Canton assembly plants.