Nissan opens the first phase of its newest plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Nov. 12.
The new $2 billion facility is Nissan’s third in Mexico and joins the automaker’s original Aguascalientes plant and another in the city of Cuernavaca.
“The investment in our third vehicle plant in Mexico leverages the world-class manufacturing capabilities of the Nissan Mexicana team and is aimed at satisfying the high demand for Nissan vehicles produced in Mexico throughout the Americas and beyond,” Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says at a ceremony at the new plant, which he says will “help consolidate our leadership in the domestic market and strengthen our growth plans globally.”
The facility is Nissan’s fastest to come online, going from groundbreaking to opening in 19 months.
As one of the newest auto manufacturing plants in the world, Aguascalientes 2 has a number of noteworthy technologies, including an XL Press, the largest stamping press in Latin America, Nissan claims, able to perform 575 strokes per hour and produce upwards of 273,000 parts per month.
The body shop at Aguascalientes 2 has 190 robots and is 72% automated, Nissan says, while the paint shop has a 3-Wet paint cabin with water-based technology.
There are five main buildings at the new 1,130-acre (460-ha) site. In addition to the stamping, body and paint shops, is the assembly line and an injection and bumpers paint buildings.
Aguascalientes 1 and Aguascalientes 2 are fully integrated logistically, with a new railyard supporting both plants’ shipping and receiving needs.
Aguascalientes 2 will commence production with Nissan’s Sentra compact sedan. Nissan Executive Vice President Andy Palmer told WardsAuto in August that sales of the Sentra were hobbled by low supplies of the car.
Aguascalientes 2 will be able to produce 30 vehicles per hour, supplementing the 65-vehicles-per-hour rate of its sister plant 4 miles (6.4 km) away.
Full production ramps up immediately, Nissan says, with the plant slated to run 23 hours per day, six days per week, 284 days per year.
With the new plant, Nissan will raise its annual vehicle production in Mexico 25%, to 850,000 units from 680,000 today.
