Nissan to Build New Plant in Northeast China

Nissan Motor Co. intends to erect a 5 billion-yuan ($790 million) assembly plant in northeastern China with joint venture partner Dongfeng Motor Group Co. to begin making vehicles in 2014, Reuters reports.

The news service, which cites an unidentified source, says the factory's annual capacity will be 25,000 vehicles initially, rising to 120,000 units in 2015 and 240,000 by 2017. Nissan currently has capacity to build about 1 million vehicles per year in China.

Reuters say the partners will break ground for the facility near the coastal city of Dalian later this month, which implies they have received government approval for the factory.

Earlier news reports said the partners were seeking permission for the facility to make the Nissan Murano crossover vehicle and X-Trail SUV and eventually unidentified electric vehicles for sale in China, other Asian countries and Russia.

Dalian's port would give Nissan easy access to its assembly plant in Kyushu, Japan, thus enabling the two factories to supply one another with components and share suppliers.

Nissan aims to boost sales in China, its largest market, from 1.2 million in the 12 months ended March 31 to 2.3 million vehicles by the fiscal year ending in March 2017. That would hike the company's Chinese market share from 6.2% to about 10% in that period. The company expects to sell 1.4 million vehicles in China this year.