Nissan to Make More Models at Mississippi Factory

Nissan Motor Co. says it will add production of the Sentra compact car at its plant in Canton, Miss., in December and spend about $23 million to boost the facility's capacity by 50,000 units to 450,000 vehicles.

Nissan plans to hire at least 1,000 more workers in Canton to build the Sentra and the Frontier small pickup truck and Xterra midsize SUV the factory is scheduled to begin producing in November. The company announced last year it would shift the truck assembly to Canton from its Smyrna, Tenn., plant. Nissan also previously said it would add a third shift in Mississippi.

The Canton factory, which also makes the Altima midsize sedan, Armada SUV, Titan big pickup truck and NV commercial van, will employ more than 4,500 workers when the expansion is complete. The company intends to continue building the Sentra at its facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

The moves are part of an intricate dance Nissan is performing to boost North American output without erecting a new plant. The company, which seeks a buffer from the negative impact of the strong yen, has said it aims to locally produce 85% of the vehicles in sells in North America by 2015 compared with 69% now.