Nissan Announces Major Industrial Expansion In Russia

Today Nissan made a raft of major industrial announcements confirming plans for further significant localization within the Russian market.

Nissan is targeting a 10% share of the rapidly growing Russian market by 2016 (up from 5.9% today) which will be achieved by tripling annual sales from the 2011 total of 161,000 units.

To support this, capacity at the St. Petersburg Plant will double to 100,000 units in 2014FY. The announcement follows last year's capacity increase at the plant which currently manufactures the Teana sedan, X-Trail SUV and Murano crossover, to 50,000 following the introduction of a third production shift.

Nissan will now invest a further €167 million to add 50,000 square metres of new production facilities, including Press and Plastics Shops. As well as bringing total plant capacity to 100,000 units, the expansion will enable St. Petersburg to produce up to five different models simultaneously.

This will include the next generation Qashqai which will be built locally for Russia in St. Petersburg, while Sunderland Plant will continue production of the popular crossover for other markets.

Nissan is also exploring further opportunities provided by its strategic partnership in Russia. The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Alliance partner Renault and Russian Technologies for the Alliance to increase its stake in AvtoVAZ - Russia's largest car maker - from 25% to over 50%.