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Nissan to Build Vehicles in Korea for U.S. Market

The Renault-Nissan alliance will invest 170 billion won ($149 million) to prepare an assembly plant in Busan, South Korea, to begin producing 80,000 next-generation Nissan Rogue crossover vehicles per year in 2014, mainly for the American market.

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The Renault-Nissan alliance will invest 170 billion won ($149 million) to prepare an assembly plant in Busan, South Korea, to begin producing 80,000 next-generation Nissan Rogue crossover vehicles per year in 2014, mainly for the American market.

The added output will help Nissan meet rising demand for the Rogue in the U.S. The company sold 124,500 of the vehicles in America last year and expects to sell at least 150,000 units there this year. Nissan plans to add capacity to build 120,000 Rogues annually at its plant in Smyrna, Tenn. next year, when production shifts there from Japan.

The move also will enable Nissan take advantage of the weak Korean won and the country's free trade agreements with the U.S. and the European Union.

The alliance partners say the plan will help Renault's Korean unit, Renault Samsung Motors, improve its efficiency. The Busan factory has annual capacity of 300,000 units but made only 73,800 vehicles in the first half of 2012.

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