Nissan to Boost Exports from Japan

Nissan Motor Co. plans to use excess capacity in Japan to increase exports by at least 100,000 units, according to The Nikkei.

The Tokyo-based newspaper says Nissan has concluded the weakening yen makes it more financially attractive to hike domestic output than to increase production overseas.

Nissan appears likely to increase output of Rogue crossover vehicles at its Kyushu plant in Kanda and ship them to the U.S. The company relocated Rogue production in 2013 from Japan to Tennessee. Last year it shifted Murano crossover production from Japan to Mississippi. The two moves represented a shift in annual capacity of about 200,000 units.

The Nikkei says Nissan also may use an idled small-car production line at its Oppama factory to make vehicles for export. The facility assembles the Nissan Leaf electric sedan and may build a new electric minicar being co-developed with Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

Exporting more vehicles from Japan could help Nissan raise its domestic output to 1.1 million vehicles per year in the next two years or so, according to The Nikkei.