Nissan, Suppliers Invest in Tennessee Facility Expansions

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Automotive Industry is returning to rapid growth. Automakers are on the lookout for ways to increase inventories without greatly increasing costs. One method many U.S. automakers are using is to develop supplier parks around existing vehicle-manufacturing facilities. The automakers work with local municipalities to persuade parts-makers to relocate or build new factories closer to their assembly plants, which cuts transportation costs, reduces production time, and helps ensure parts quality.

Nissan Motor Company (OTC:NSANY) (Nishi-ku, Japan) has announced plans to build a supplier park to house logistics and manufacturing operations for many parts-suppliers near its assembly facility in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The 5.9 million-square-foot Nissan Smyrna campus, which includes a battery-manufacturing plant and vehicle-assembly plant, produces six model vehicles: the Maxima sedan, Rogue Crossover, Pathfinder SUV, Altima sedan, Infiniti crossover, and the Leaf EV, as well as batteries for electric vehicles. The 648,000-vehicle-per-year plant began producing the newest Maxima model this year, and is the most productive auto-assembly plant in North America.

The plant recently completed an expansion project, originally announced in 2013, in which a 55,000-square-foot building addition was constructed by T.W. Frierson Contractor Incorporated (Nashville, Tennessee).

T.W. Frierson also acted as general contractor for Nissan's supplier park project at its assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi. The park opened last year.

The $160 million Smyrna supplier park project is expected to support more than 1,000 new jobs in the area. Phased construction of the 1.5 million-square-foot integrated logistics center is expected to start in 2016, ending in late 2017. Ten auto suppliers already have committed to establish operations at the park; the first set of companies could move in by the end of 2016.

One announced addition to the supplier park will be a facility for Topre America (Cullman, Alabama), the U.S. subsidiary for Topre Corporation (TYO:5975) (Tokyo, Japan). Topre America currently has manufacturing operations within the existing Nissan assembly plant, but plans to build a new, standalone facility nearby.

Construction of the $53 million project is expected to begin in August, with production expected to begin by summer 2017. Topre also has a manufacturing facility in Cullman, Alabama, that will remain operational. Topre America produces automotive metal stampings and assemblies for Nissan, Honda Motor Company Limited (NYSE:HMC) (Tokyo) and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) (Aichi, Japan) car bodies.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.