Nissan To Expand Russia Production

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Nissan plans to expand the list of models it produces at the company's new factory in St. Petersburg, said the CEO of Nissan Russia, François Goupil de Bouillé.

Nissan's Russian plant, which opened last June, currently produces two models, the Teana and the X-Trail. A third model — as yet undecided, the company says — is slated to be added by early 2011.

Goupil said the expansion of the St. Petersburg factory will run parallel to the development of localization and search for local suppliers, with the aim of a 50 percent localization of Nissan's Russia-built vehicles within several years.

Nissan officially launched its factory in St. Petersburg on June 2 2009, with the Teana sedan as the company's first Russia-made model. In early November, Nissan started production of the compact crossover X-Trail. Deliveries of Japan-made X-Trails stopped on New Year's Day, allowing Nissan to cut prices of the popular SUV almost 10 percent in Russia, to a price of about $30,000.

Inside Line says: Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn's words at the plant opening about "confidence in the high potential of the Russian economy" appear to have been more than hyperbole. — Evgeniy Vorotnikov, Correspondent