The Nation - Production at the new Bt11-billion plant is scheduled to commence in August next year for Navara 1-tonne pickup trucks.

Initial capacity will be 75,000 vehicles per year, which will be raised later to 150,000 per year. A total of 2,000 new jobs have been created for the new plant.

The factory will raise Nissan's annual production capacity in Thailand to 370,000 units and allow the auto-maker to use the Kingdom as an important production and export base, company executives said.

The new facility will keep Thailand as Nissan's largest manufacturing centre in the Asean region, the executives said. The investment is an important component to achieve the goals of Nissan's corporate mid-term business plan, Nissan Power 88 - to increase market share and sustain business growth in this important region.

Adding 150,000 units of production capacity will not only enable Nissan to raise its competitiveness in the domestic market, but will ensure Thailand's position as a key strategic global export hub for the company.

Currently, Nissan has one assembly facility that produces passenger cars and pickup trucks. It is on Bang Na-Trat Road Kilometre 21 in Samut Prakan province. It employs 6,000 people and produces 220,000 units a year. Because of inadequate production capacity, Nissan has hired Mitsubishi to assemble 40,000 of its Navara pickups per year.

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