Nissan Plans Local Production for Russian Crossover

Nissan Motor Co. tells Automotive News Europe it will relocate an unspecified portion of capacity to make the Qashqai small crossover vehicle from Sunderland, England, to St. Petersburg, Russia, in about two years.

The shift will create a local production base for all the Qashqai vehicles Nissan sells in Russia, eliminating import tariffs equal to about 30% of the cost of the vehicle. The move also will free up more capacity at Sunderland to make the Nissan Leaf electric sedan, which goes into production there next year.

Nissan tells ANE the move will come when the next-generation Qashqai debuts in 2014. The Sunderland plant made 480,500 vehicles last year. More than 60% of its output is the Qashqai, Nissan's best-selling model in Europe. The facility, which operated at three-shift full capacity in 2011, also builds the Note minivan and Juke small crossover.

The St. Petersburg factory produces the Teana sedan and Murano and X-Trail SUVs. Nissan says it aims to double that plant's annual output to 100,000 units in two years. ANE notes that Nissan's sales in Russia surged 73% to about 60,000 vehicles last year.