1,000,000 Are Assembled in America Annually[[2172]] Where are Nissans Made?

The assembly of Nissan vehicles has a large impact in the U.S. in terms of the number of vehicles assembled and the number of people employed. In 2018, Nissan is celebrating “50 combined years of manufacturing in the U.S.” as its Tennessee plant marks its 35^th anniversary and its Mississippi facility celebrates its 15^th.

In the U.S., Nissan facilities assemble more than 1 million vehicles a year and employ more than 22,000 people, including 17,000 manufacturing jobs. More than 9,000 new jobs have been created by Nissan since mid-2011 in the U.S. In the 35 years of manufacturing operations in the U.S., the company has never had a single layoff among its full-time U.S. workforce.

Assembly of Nissan vehicles began in the U.S. in 1983 at the Smyrna Assembly Plant in Tennessee, a plant that now employs 8,400 people and has an annual production capacity of 640,000 vehicles. The Nissan Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant in Mississippi opened in 2003 and its more than 6,400 workers have capacity to produce 450,000 vehicles a year. The Canton assembly plant celebrated its 4 millionth vehicle assembled in March of 2018.

The History of Nissan Production

The very first vehicles in the long history of Nissan were produced in 1914 under the Datsun name in Japan. The first manufacturing plant, the Yokohama plant, began production in 1935. Now the Nissan Global headquarters, it still serves as a manufacturing center. Nissan fans are invited to visit the facility to see the engine assembly hall and learn all about the history of Nissan.

Nissans first production plant in Yokohama, Japan

Assembled in America: The first Nissan production plant in the USA

In 1980, in order to meet a growing demand for Nissan vehicles in the U.S., the Nissan Motor Manufacturing Company was established in Smyrna, Tennessee. The first 4-cylinder, 3-speed white pick-up rolled off the plant’s assembly line in 1983. In 1985, the first Nissan Sentra was assembled there. Since 1983, more than 10,700,000 vehicles have been assembled at the plant, which currently employs more than 8,000 workers assembling the Altima, Maxima, LEAF, Pathfinder and Rogue.

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vehicle in production at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, TN

Plant employee at the Nissan Manufacturing plant in Smyrna, TN

Production line at the Nissan Smyrna Manufacturing plant — Nissan employees at Smyrna, TN

Building Power: The Powertrain Assembly Plant

Nineteen seconds. It doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but every 19 seconds a new Nissan engine is completed at the Decherd Powertrain Assembly Plant in Decherd, Tennessee. Production at the plant began in 1997 and last year the 1.1-million-square-foot facility celebrated its 20^th anniversary. It currently assembles engines for a large number of Nissan models including the Rogue, Altima, TITAN, Armada and e-moter assembly for the all-electric LEAF.

Decherd Powertrain Manufacturing plant employees celebrate 20 years

Decherd Powertrain Assembly Fast Facts:

Employs more than 1,600 workers
A current annual capacity of: 1.4 million engines, 1.4 million crankshaft forgings, 456,000 cylinder block castings
In its two decades of operation, Decherd has assembled more than 10 million engines

Expanding Production in Canton, Mississippi

Nissan North America’s most recent plant opening was in 2003 when production began at the Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant in Canton, Mississippi. It has since expanded to become a 4.7-million-square-foot, 1,038-acre facility and transitioned from assembling cars for the domestic market in the U.S. to include the global market as well. Altima, Frontier, Murano, NV Cargo, NV Passenger, TITAN and TITAN XD models are assembled there. The diverse workforce of the Canton plant – its team is made up of 53% minority managers – helped Nissan to be named a noteworthy company by Diversity Inc. in 2018. The Canton facility is often looking to add positions to its more than 6,400 strong workforce. Learn more about Nissan Jobs.

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Nissan vehicle in production at the Nissan Canton Plant — Nissan Canton Plant and employees

Featured Vehicles

Now that you know a little bit about where and how Nissan vehicles are assembled in the United States, why not take the time to build the perfect Nissan model for yourself?