Nissan announced today that it has allocated production of a new passenger car to its manufacturing plant in Barcelona. Production will begin in July 2014.
 
The new passenger car brings an additional 80,000 units of annual capacity to Barcelona, through an investment of €110 million, and the creation of 1,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The move also diversifies the Barcelona plant’s production, which previously had been heavily dependent on light-commercial vehicles and 4×4’s. All of this vehicles have been impacted by the economic crisis.
 
Additionally, Nissan is allocating to Barcelona the production of 24,000 units of additional annual capacity for the 1-Ton Pickup, an investment of €14 million, and the assembly of the gearbox for the Nissan LEAF and Nissan eNV200, an investment of €6 million.
 
These investments, totalling more than €130 million in the coming years, will be used to renovate production lines for the new passenger car, for the introduction of new technology needed to support electric-vehicle production, and for adapting the supplier park to new production requirements. 
 
Barcelona operations are positioned to become among the most competitive and versatile, with the ability to produce passenger cars, 4x4s, LCVs and electric vehicles.
 
Nissan Motor Iberica Managing Director, Frank Torres, comments: “In the coming years, Barcelona plant will work at full capacity, with an annual output over 200,000 units while maintaining its attractiveness to produce new models. Given the current crisis environment, this is not only a great achievement for Nissan, but for the entire industry in this country.”

Source: nissan