Will Nissan Shut Down Again?

Nissan now runs four factories in the US, including two in Tennessee and two in Mississippi. Automotive News reports that the Japanese carmaker will shut down the Decherd Infiniti Powertrain Plant, which produced the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine for the Infiniti Q50, Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, Sprinter, and Metris vans until 2019. The four-cylinder, which is capable of 208 horsepower, used to be the Q50’s base engine before the twin-turbo V6 became the only choice for the 2020 model year.

According to a Nissan North America spokeswoman, “[We] will cease operations at the Decherd powertrain factory awaiting future product announcements.” No jobs will be lost as the 400 employees will be transferred to other locations, which may include the company’s Nissan Leaf assembly factory in Smyrna, Tennessee.

A $319 million joint venture between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG saw the plant’s opening back in 2014. The engine-building facility for other Nissan/Infiniti vehicles, located nearby in Decherd, will continue to operate.

Despite being designed with a 250,000-unit yearly capacity, the Infiniti Powertrain Plant only reached 35% of its peak production in 2020. Only 50,000 engines were assembled there last year. Since 2019, Infiniti has stopped using the Mercedes-designed engine because there isn’t enough Mercedes-Benz demand to keep the factory open. In spite of continuing to use Tennesee engines in its GLE, Sprinter, and Metris models, the German carmaker informed dealers earlier this year that it will start acquiring powertrains from other plants.

“Throughout the upcoming year, the product cycle will come to a close. Production is finishing as planned, and the partnership with Nissan in Decherd is coming to an end “a representative for Mercedes-Benz stated.

When this plant closes, it will put an end to a failed alliance between Nissan and Mercedes that Carlos Ghosn, the disgraced former CEO of Nissan, set up. The entry-level Infiniti QX30, a rebadged Mercedes GLA-Class that was only produced for three model years, is still in our memories. Although the Mercedes C-Class was originally constructed in Alabama with a four-cylinder engine from the Infiniti Powertrain Plant, it is currently put together in Germany.

A joint-venture COMPAS plant owned by Nissan and Mercedes is still in operation in Mexico, but its future is still up in the air. The Mercedes GLB-Class, Infiniti QX50, and QX55 are now assembled in Mexico, but analysts predict that this will only be the case until 2026. Mercedes used to manufacture the A-Class there as well, but it was discontinued in favor of the more well-liked GLB.

Nissan’s $18 billion investment in electrification might be repurposed to produce EV powertrains and batteries at the Decherd facility. After repeated delays, the Nissan Ariya EV will eventually make its way to the US market, but since it was produced in Japan, it is no longer eligible for the $7,500 tax credit. The Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden recently signed into law, stipulates that EVs must be produced in North America to qualify for the credit. Nissan may be able to lower the price of the Ariya for buyers of EVs if it can retool this factory for Ariya manufacture.

Following a COVID-19 outbreak at a Malaysian chip supplier, the Tennessee plant will be shut down through September 12.

Nissan’s U.S. manufacturing is still being impacted by a COVID-19 outbreak that occurred at a Malaysian microchip supplier plant this month.

Nissan’s Smyrna, Tennessee, facility was already closed due to the Malaysian crisis as of August 30. However, that delay will now last until September 12, which will have an impact on the manufacturing of important models including the Nissan Rogue, Pathfinder, and Infiniti QX60 SUVs.

Additionally, the Versa, Kicks, and Sentra models will not be produced in Nissan’s Aguascalientes, Mexico, facility until September 5.

Nissan is anticipated to lose 157,000 units of North American manufacturing this year, including the recently reported downtime, according to AutoForecast Solutions (AFS).

Nissan announced on August 10 that Smyrna activities would be suspended for two weeks due to the issue at the chip supplier. The provider has not been named by Nissan.

Due to a deficit in microchip allocations, Nissan has seen some manufacturing line interruptions this year, just like other automakers. However, those shortages were primarily brought on by chipmakers with constrained capacity and automakers with hazy 2021 predictions miscalculating demand.

According to AFS estimates, the chip shortfall has caused automakers to scale back their global production plans by 6.9 million vehicles.

Many in the sector continued to believe that the chip problem was progressively abating as the COVID-19 epidemic subsided and supply networks resumed operations.

However, the car sector is facing new issues due to a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, especially the transmission of the virus’ delta form.

As it is time to switch to new model-year vehicles, downtime is difficult.

Nissan extended its time-out at its Smyrna, Tennessee, manufacturing facility, while General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis also added timeouts at a number of their North American assembly factories.

The Symrna complex, located just outside Nashville, will remain closed for an additional two weeks as a result of the ongoing effects of the semiconductor shortage, according to a Nissan spokesman.

Nissan will cease production at its US factory due to a chip shortage.

THE NEW YORK Due to a shortage of semiconductors caused by an increase in COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, Nissan Motor will cease operations at an assembly factory in the United States on Monday, sources told Nikkei.

The Leaf electric car and Rogue SUV are made in the Japanese automaker’s Smyrna facility in Tennessee. Nissan anticipates starting up again on August 30, but the chip problem could cause that date to shift.

Nissan facility in Tennessee will close for two weeks owing to a chip shortage.

Nissan has announced a two-week closure of its massive factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, beginning on Monday.

DEARBORN — Nissan has said that due to a shortage of computer chips brought on by a coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia, its sizable facility in Smyrna, Tennessee, would be closed for two weeks starting on Monday.

Since the semiconductor shortage, which has hampered vehicle manufacturing globally, began to take hold in the latter part of last year, the stoppage is among the longest at any American auto plant of this scale.

In response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a Malaysian chip manufacturer, Nissan said on Tuesday that it was out of chips. On August 30, it anticipates resuming manufacturing.

Six Nissan models are produced in the 6 million-square-foot Tennessee factory, which also employs 6,700 people and is home to the company’s best-selling vehicle in the United States, the Rogue small SUV.

According to analysts, the massive Nissan factory’s two-week stoppage is an indication that the semiconductor scarcity could not be ending as soon as many auto executives had planned for late this year.

The few American facilities that have been closed for two consecutive weeks are typically those that produce sedans or other lower-volume, less lucrative vehicles. Automakers have made an effort to save chips for the factories that produce their best-selling vehicles, primarily SUVs and pickup trucks. However, there have also been periodic closures of pickup vehicle manufacturing facilities, including three General Motors factories this week.

Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Guidehouse Research, stated that Smyrna is a vital manufacturing for Nissan and that its closure indicates that there may not be a quick resolution to the semiconductor shortage.

Supply issues could endure even longer than that, according to Abuelsamid, as COVID-19 infections continue to spread throughout the semiconductor supply chain in Asia and other places.

There is a nationwide shortage of new vehicles as a result of the shortfall, manufacturing closures, and high consumer demand in the U.S. As a result, prices have increased and the used car market has been affected by the lack.

According to Phil Amsrud, senior principal analyst for IHS Markit who monitors the chip business, the chip scarcity is beginning to ease, but the coronavirus delta variant is beginning to cause issues at companies in the semiconductor supply chain, which is aggravating the situation.

Large silicon wafers are divided into numerous smaller integrated circuits by chip foundries in Taiwan and other Asian countries. After that, they are transported to Malaysian “back end” producers where they are subsequently sliced into chips for use in vehicle control computers.

However, as demonstrated by the Nissan stoppage, breakouts among workers in those industries and in the shipping industry are once again hurting supplies. Additionally, he added, the chips automakers are purchasing now could not be suitable for future products.

Amsrud also pointed out that poor immunization rates are common in many nations that handle the back-end jobs, such as Malaysia.

I think we’re basically setting up for Delta to have a footing in all of these places, he said. “I believe delta will continue to give us several issues.”

Will Nissan cease operations?

Nissan India MD Rakesh Srivastava has formally denied rumors that the company intends to leave the Indian market.

As part of a bigger global transformation strategy, Nissan India, according to Srivastava, is concentrating on its core models and market sectors. The Nissan NEXT program’s first vehicle to be introduced is the Magnite.

In December 2020, Nissan Magnite was introduced. One lakh reservations have been made, and 50,000 units will be produced through March 2022. The chief executive of Nissan India also disclosed that there is a waiting list of 5–6 months for more over 18,000 client orders for the Magnite.

Nissan announced the discontinuation of the Datsun brand in India earlier this month. A member of parliament tweeted in reaction, “Indian operations of Japanese automaker Nissan are to be closed.” This had fueled rumors that the business was leaving the market.

Why is Nissan closing its doors?

Due to a coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia and an interruption in the supply of semiconductors, one of the biggest auto manufacturers in North America was forced to temporarily close.

Nissan still produces automobiles?

Nissan Motor Co. this week declared its return to profitability for the first time since 2019 following two years of significant losses and reductions in manufacturing capacity and the number of models it sells, noting that it is also making steady progress toward its 2030 growth objectives.

Nissan UK is it closing down?

After more than 30 years, the Japanese automobile giant will stop making cylinder heads at its sizable British facility; 250 employees will be relocated, according to Sky News. When a contract with its sole customer ends in 2024, the Japanese automaker Nissan will shut down its British engine cylinder manufacturing.

How many years has Nissan been flogged?

Nissan has been making the Nissan Kicks, also known as Ri Chan kitsukusu in Japanese and Nissan Kikkusu in Hepburn, since 2016. The crossover made its debut at the 2014 Sao Paulo International Motor Show as a concept car under the same name. Nissan claimed that Brazilian streets served as inspiration for the design. The Kicks brand is now applied to two vehicles that share a similar appearance but were constructed using distinct platforms and have differing dimensions.

With the P15 chassis code, the V platform-based Kicks made its debut in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2016. Together with Nissan Design America (NDA) in San Diego, California, and Nissan Design America Rio de Janeiro, the car was created at Nissan’s design headquarters in Atsugi, Japan. The Kicks then gradually spread throughout Latin America, and in 2018 it arrived in the United States and Canada to take the position of the Juke as the subcompact crossover vehicle available in those two nations.

On January 22, 2019, the B0 platform-based Kicks with the D15 chassis code made its debut in India. The car is constructed on the platform, according to the manufacturer, to cut production costs. As a result, it is marginally bigger than the Kicks with a V platform, and it has the same wheelbase as the first-generation Dacia Duster and the Renault Captur with a B0 chassis.

Nissan: Will it endure in India?

Nissan India MD Rakesh Srivastava has formally denied rumors that the company intends to leave the Indian market. As part of a bigger global transformation strategy, Nissan India, according to Srivastava, is concentrating on its core models and market sectors.

Is there a future for Nissan in India?

Nissan will introduce the Nissan Leaf and Nissan Note e Power as two hatchbacks in India. Between 2021 and 2022, these vehicles will be introduced to the Indian automotive market. The Nissan Leaf and Nissan Note e Power are the two hatchbacks that Nissan will introduce in India.