Nissan to Pull Infiniti Production From Japan
The powerful Japanese Yen is pushing Nissan to make some tough decisions, and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that Infiniti production will be moving out of Japan.
Infiniti currently exports all but one model from its Japanese production line, but it just doesn’t make sense for the company to keep this setup going. “You won’t have to wait a long time before we make a decision about the new base for sourcing of Infiniti,” said Ghosn. “If you follow our logic, we should make the cars where we sell them.”
Infiniti has already started the move, with the JX35 being built in Tennessee and plans to build a new $2 billion assembly plant in Mexico.
The decisions being made by the Japanese luxury brand are directly influence by German luxury companies, and their move to become truly global companies. “We’re seeing what the Germans are doing,” said Carlos Ghosn, “the Germans are diversifying their base and they are producing practically everywhere.”
The other big reason for the move is the strong Japanese currency, which Ghosn claims held Infiniti back from its 2011 goal of claiming 10 percent of the worldwide luxury car market.
[Source: Automotive News]
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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When its time for a new car it will be made in Japan. If no cars are being built there I'll buy a used Japanese car or German first.Mexico built products are why the greatest appliance's ever made went under. Maytag moved to mexico and in a few yrs went under and was sold off to Whirlpool.Might as well build the cars in China. They wont sell here in the USA. I'll be back in a Lexus a.s.a.p.