The move is the latest in a series of production shakeups Nissan and other Japanese automakers have performed in response to a home market currency.
The Japanese automaker is investing around $160 million into the plant, which currently builds Renault-Samsung-badged vehicles primarily for the Korean market. Renault-Samsung vehicles have not proven to be big hits with consumers, so the plant remains underutilized.
In addition, Nissan has previously announced that it will begin building between 100,000 and 120,000 Rogues in Smyrna, Tennessee, next year. Currently, all Rogues are sourced from Japan, but the perpetually strong yen has sliced into Japanese automakers' ability to profitably build and subsequently export vehicles from their home market. Nissan will entirely cease Japanese production of the Rogue once it ramps up production in Korea and Tennessee.
Previously, Nissan had estimated that its Tennessee plant would have enough capacity to keep up with Rogue demands, but the automaker continues to see sales of its crossover increase. Nissan has just two assembly plants in the United States, but it builds nearly 1 million vehicles between the facilites annually. Despite several expansions, the automaker has apparently decided that it won't be able to keep up with consumer demand.
Within the next few years, Nissan will produce locally almost all of the nameplates it sells in North America.
