Monday, 6 September 2010
Nissan looks to Mexican exports, US plants to rase yen’s rise
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 at 11:28, Bloomberg
Nissan Motor Co will boost output capacity in Mexico to about 700,000 vehicles a year and may consider increasing exports from the US as the strong yen makes North American production more competitive.
“Based on the currencies, there is a point in time where the competitiveness of those exports is going to increase,” Carlos Tavares, executive vice president and head of Nissan’s operations in the Americas, said in an interview yesterday in San Jose, California. He didn’t say whether there was a specific plan to increase shipments from US factories.
Nissan, Japan’s third-largest carmaker, is spending $600m to upgrade two Mexican auto plants and is increasing US production as a stronger yen make exports from Japan less profitable. The yen has risen against all the world’s major currencies in 2010 and is up about 5 percent against the US dollar and 14 per cent against the euro this year.
Nissan, based in Yokohama, has declined 20 percent this year in Tokyo trading. The stock rose 2.1 per cent to ¥647 as of 10:01 am.
The automaker has already moved some production overseas from Japan, citing the nation’s rising currency. The company has begun assembling its new March small car in Thailand and will start making it in Mexico in 2011.
Nissan will cut output in Japan by about 20 percent from October compared with its September production plan because of the yen’s strength and the expiration of government subsidies in the nation, Yokohama-based spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa said today.
The company’s US factories are in Tennessee and Mississippi. The company exports US-built light trucks to the Middle East and has shipped Quest minivans to China.
“We will continue to do that, and if the markets continue to grow we will be happy to do it,” Tavares said.
Steve Parrett, a spokesman for Nissan’s US unit, said he couldn’t immediately provide details on the current volume of vehicle exports from the U.S. to markets outside North America.
The investment in Mexico, and the addition of subcompact car production there next year, increases the nation’s importance as Nissan’s export hub for Latin America, Tavares said.
“Markets in Latin America are booming,” said Tavares, 51. “Most probably we’ll produce 530,000 units in our Mexican operations in fiscal 2010, an all-time record.”
The company has the largest market share in Mexico and was the top producer of vehicles there last year, making 355,414 units.
“Based on the currencies, there is a point in time where the competitiveness of those exports is going to increase,” Carlos Tavares, executive vice president and head of Nissan’s operations in the Americas, said in an interview yesterday in San Jose, California. He didn’t say whether there was a specific plan to increase shipments from US factories.
Nissan, Japan’s third-largest carmaker, is spending $600m to upgrade two Mexican auto plants and is increasing US production as a stronger yen make exports from Japan less profitable. The yen has risen against all the world’s major currencies in 2010 and is up about 5 percent against the US dollar and 14 per cent against the euro this year.
Nissan, based in Yokohama, has declined 20 percent this year in Tokyo trading. The stock rose 2.1 per cent to ¥647 as of 10:01 am.
The automaker has already moved some production overseas from Japan, citing the nation’s rising currency. The company has begun assembling its new March small car in Thailand and will start making it in Mexico in 2011.
Nissan will cut output in Japan by about 20 percent from October compared with its September production plan because of the yen’s strength and the expiration of government subsidies in the nation, Yokohama-based spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa said today.
The company’s US factories are in Tennessee and Mississippi. The company exports US-built light trucks to the Middle East and has shipped Quest minivans to China.
“We will continue to do that, and if the markets continue to grow we will be happy to do it,” Tavares said.
Steve Parrett, a spokesman for Nissan’s US unit, said he couldn’t immediately provide details on the current volume of vehicle exports from the U.S. to markets outside North America.
The investment in Mexico, and the addition of subcompact car production there next year, increases the nation’s importance as Nissan’s export hub for Latin America, Tavares said.
“Markets in Latin America are booming,” said Tavares, 51. “Most probably we’ll produce 530,000 units in our Mexican operations in fiscal 2010, an all-time record.”
The company has the largest market share in Mexico and was the top producer of vehicles there last year, making 355,414 units.
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