Filed under: Minivans/MPVs, SUVs, Plants/Manufacturing, Infiniti, Nissan
Nissan moving production of Quest and QX56 back to Japan
Don't think of the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi as losing the ability to produce two models, think of it as gaining the capacity to build more pickup trucks.
An article in the business publication, Nihon Keizai, reports that the Mississippi plant will cease production of both the Nissan Quest minivan and the Infiniti QX56 SUV by 2009, shifting production of the two vehicles to facilities in Japan.
As both vehicles are primarily sold in North America, it was beneficial for the automaker to produce the vehicles stateside until now. Unfortunately, slow sales of the Quest (down 28 percent so far this year) and QX56 have proven that production here in the U.S. is becoming too costly to justify and, according to the article, the plants in Japan have the ability retool and manufacture at a quicker rate.
On the bright side, no production capacity will be lost in Canton, where Nissan plans to increase truck production to meet the current manufacturing levels.
[Source: Nihon Keizai via CNN Money]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
doug 11:35AM (10/03/2006)
I can understand the Quest, but the QX56 is just a rebadged Armada, which will still be made there, so where are the savings?
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Bob 11:42AM (10/03/2006)
I wonder how much this has to do with the reliability problems of the Quest and QX56. Didn't they just send a huge team of engineers down there to see what the problem was at that plant? Maybe they found too much stuff that needed to be changed.
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Muhammed 11:59AM (10/03/2006)
I was thinking along the exact same lines as Bob (see post above). A quick look at Consumer Reports will show that pretty much anything coming out of the Canton plant has been horrible. Of the five reliability ratings that Consumer Reports issues, the Canton vehicles appear to get the lowest rating, while Japanese built Nissans (and Infinitis) almost always earn high ratings.
The low volume might be an excuse, but I can see minivan and Infiniti buyers becoming extremely annoyed with Nissan if they end up with a lemon.
Strangely, there is no mention of the Pathfinder Armada as it's a twin of the QX56
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Tom 12:08PM (10/03/2006)
Maybe if the Quest didn't look like a space shuttle and the QX56 didn't look like it has down syndrome they would sell more. I'm sorry Nissan, but those vehicles are both ugly as %!#&.
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RvD 12:47PM (10/03/2006)
The Canton plant has had its problems. However, I own a 2004 Titan (first year of the model AND the plant), and other than underdesigned brakes it's been bullet-proof. The brakes (rotors) have been replaced and the warranty extended on them, and have been fine since then.
What's baffling to me is that they move these models out to produce -more- trucks... Didn't Nissan lower its sales estimates for the Titan (and the related SUV's) just a month ago or so? Doesn't make sense at all.
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Mike 1:22PM (10/03/2006)
We really like our Quest. No reliability issues so far (45K on the ticker), but there was a recall regarding the seats and side airbags. They fixed it quick and gave us an Armada during the repairs.
It is pretty unique looking, but we like it. We really like the gage cluster in the center, the steering wheel never gets in the way of your view. The 3.5 engine really motivates the van and we get around 19 MPG around town, even though it is a huge vehicle. I'm looking forward to keeping this baby a long time.
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Lithous 2:18PM (10/03/2006)
"What's baffling to me is that they move these models out to produce -more- trucks... Didn't Nissan lower its sales estimates for the Titan (and the related SUV's) just a month ago or so? Doesn't make sense at all."
Sure it makes sense. It is just an excuse for them to move those vehicles back to Japan without Americans thinking that is messed up. I mean, if they are going to make more pickups (wink, wink) which American pickup owners want them assembled here then that is great. The buyers of the vehicles going back to Japan are perceived by Nissan as not giving a rats butt where their vehicle is made and they are probably correct.
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Eric L. 2:33PM (10/03/2006)
I agree with #2 - the Quest and QX56 are the two most problematic models at Nissan, so it makes sense they would build them in Japan from now on to ensure quality control. Why not the Armada? Probably because Nissan thinks that the "Nissan customer" would tolerate problems, but an Infiniti owner might not!
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Delbert 9:42PM (10/03/2006)
What's the difference where they build any of them, nobody wants any of 'em. The Titan is a flop, Quest is dead in the water, the other thing looks like an old Rambler except worse.
Better question is who are the politicians that bought this plant for Nissan and what idiots are going to vote them out. Nissan demanded huge tax breaks for "job creation', how about some huge tax tariffs for the "job un-creation"?
And after seeing the hideous Tundra and Toyota already cutting production before it even goes on sale, how about socking those drips with the same sort of medicine?
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ebm14 11:18PM (10/03/2006)
ABOUT TIME THEY STARTED TO ACT SMART AGAIN.
These cars will be so much better now and will be nice once again to buy a true imported Japanese car. Forget about all this global crap, because too many different cultural thinkings spoil the stew.
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gs 10:10AM (10/04/2006)
It's pretty obvious that the French styling of the Quest is going over like a turd in a punch bowl here in the USA. So it makes since to move production of it somewhere else to make room for trucks that do sell. As for the QX56, its quality issues are notorious. It makes since that Nissan move the production of the QX so it doesn't want to spoil the reputation of its premium brand.
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bernie 9:01PM (10/04/2006)
If you take away 3 of Nissan's Canton-made vehicles, Nissan would have finished 5th in the last JD Power IQS survey. All of the Tennessee cars and trucks and all of the Japanese built vehicles were above average in their segment.
Canton's quality is sapping the reputation of an otherwise solid manufacturer.
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tekdemon 10:49PM (10/04/2006)
note to self...do not buy a nissan pickup as they are going to be made even more at a problematic plant... Haha, actually I wasn't considering a Nissan pickup so they're safe for now.
But seriously I think it's because the QX buyers (and maybe even the people who aren't scared off by the Quest's styling) would actually prefer their cars be made in Japan. Especially with Infiniti buyers, they're buying a luxury import vehicle that's competing against euro luxury imports and lexus, so it would make sense that they might actually prefer that their vehicles aren't assembled at an unreliable plant in mississippi.
Nissan might actually be able to keep their current productivity levels at that plant but they might end up having to cut back elsewhere-either that or they're just hoping the lower oil prices are going to drive pickup sales back up? Or maybe they have some new pickup we don't know about.
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Formerly of Mississippi 7:32PM (10/27/2006)
The Nissan plant in Mississippi was a political act. A guy who did not have a snowball's chance in hell running for re-election for governor announced the plant and gave away the state to get it. The workers there were ill-equipped to handle the task of build motor vehicle and it has been proven. Same problem with MB in Vance, AL, Honda in Lincoln, AL, etc. It goes to show that when Sherman and Grant defeated the deep south, it stayed defeated to this day. They were not up to the task; they just wanted to be a bunch of good old boys who drank beer, vote for bubba and go deer hunting. That is what most of that plant's employees actually do in their spare time. I know because I used to live there. I wanted more out of life and have more pride about my work.
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Andy Magana 4:23AM (10/30/2006)
Who is the artist and title track for the QX56 commercial?
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mark 6:25PM (11/15/2006)
i have a 2004 armada and it's a lemon and a half. have continual problems with brake system, climate control and rattles. In response to the Mercedes Vance plant comment, your off base. I've seen (worked there) 75K AMG g classes tossed in the dumpster for trivial reasons. The other manufacturers fix em and push em out the door. Nissan is c-r-a-p. I'd buy an american built mercedes any day (if i had the cash of course)
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Ernie Pritchard 8:33PM (12/19/2006)
I have a 2005 model Quest and there is a reason Consumer Reports rates the car as worst in reliability. Not only is the van junk, Nissan fails to stand behind their product when you have problems. Two thumbs down for Nissan. Boo.....
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