Nissan North America to Add U.S. Production

Franklin-based Nissan North America is shuffling production of its vehicles. An announcement at the New York International Auto Show today is related to Nissan’s goal to produce more vehicles where they are sold, not supply-chain interruptions following last month’s quake in Japan.

The Japanese automaker has a goal of locally producing 85 percent of its cars sold in the Americas.

Nissan’s plant in Smyrna will lose the popular X-Terra SUV and Frontier truck, which will move to Canton, Mississippi. The new Infiniti JX will take their place. It’s a soon-to-be unveiled three-row luxury crossover. As previously announced, the Rutherford County plant will also soon produce the Nissan Rogue and the all-electric Leaf.

All told, the production shifts mean roughly 600,000 more vehicles will be American-made in the coming years.