Nissan to study creation of new company

Nissan Motor Company Ltd. on October 6 announced that it will begin a study to create a new company that will incorporate the operations of its Kyushu Plant in Japan.

The aim of this study is part of a broader strategy to strengthen Nissan's manufacturing competitiveness in Japan, enabling a viable long-term future for its overall business operations in Japan.

The study will examine how to reinforce the global competitiveness of the Kyushu Plant, one of Nissan's largest industrial facilities in Japan. Several macroeconomic and industrial trends are driving this change:

• The on-going effects of the global economic crisis and subsequent recovery period
• The appreciation of the Japanese Yen against major foreign currencies
• Increasing global competition, especially from emerging markets, and the overall market shift to smaller, lower cost vehicles
• A rise in the demand for more environmentally friendly vehicles including the development of all-electric vehicles

The study is part of a broader strategic focus on Nissan's global growth opportunities and how Japan will make countermeasures in a manner that continues to support a profitable and sustainable production base including compact cars, of up to about one million units based on multiple vehicle types.

The Kyushu Plant, first opened in 1975, has locational advantages based around its close proximity to a low-cost supply base in Asia and a network of local cost-competitive suppliers.

Nissan will be working in close partnership with the All Nissan Motors Workers' Union, with the direction to establish the new company in the fall of 2011.

Reference: Kyushu Plant Outline