Nissan to Double Capacity in Russia

Nissan Motor Co. says it will spend €167 million ($213 million) to boost the capacity of its plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, to 100,000 vehicles by 2014 from 50,000 units now.

The upgrade will make give the facility the flexibility to build as many as five models simultaneously. The factory currently makes the Murano crossover vehicle, Teana sedan and X-Trail SUV and will add the Qashqai crossover. Nissan also plans to boost output by adding a third shift at the plant.

The company aims to capture 10% of the Russian auto market by 2016 compared with 5.9% last year, when it sold 161,000 vehicles there. As much as one-third of the total could be low-priced cars sold under the Datsun badge. Nissan says it plans to build Datsuns at he Togliatti, Russia, factory of affiliate OAO AvtoVAZ.

Nissan and alliance partner Renault SA agreed earlier this month to acquire control of AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest carmaker.