Dongfeng Nissan starts building 2nd Huadu plant

Shanghai, September 1 (Gasgoo.com) To ease the output pressure as soon as possible, Dongfeng Nissan started construction of its second plant in Huadu, southern China's Guangdong province, last week ahead of schedule, xinhuanet.com reported today.

In July, Dongfeng Nissan's auto sales reached 53,000 units, and there were 33,000 ordered vehicles not produced due to its limited manufacturing capacity. To get more output and meet the fast growing market demand, the joint venture had to start building its new plant in Huadu ahead of schedule.

Dongfeng Nissan, a joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Group and Nissan Motor Co., signed an agreement in early August with Guangzhou municipality to build a new assembly plant in the southern Chinese city with total investment of 5 billion yuan ($730 mln).

The Guangzhou Huadu-based passenger vehicle plant, which was previously scheduled to operate in 2012, will have a capacity of 240,000 units, boosting the annual capacity of Dongfeng Nissan's Huadu production base to 600,000 units.

Dongfeng Nissan's current annual production capacity is 460,000 units at the Huadu plant and the Xiangfan plant in central province of Hubei. Once the expansion is completed, total production capacity of Dongfeng Nissan will reach 700,000 units.

The venture produces and sells a variety of Nissan models in China, including the recently redesigned New Sylphy (Xuanyi) sedan. The company will produce more vehicle models in the second Huadu factory to meet the market demand.