“Consolidating the Murano into the same plant with the Pathfinder lowers the costs of these two popular crossovers by increasing the volume of common parts, especially the shared V-6 engine and continuously variable transmission,” Fiorani said. At the same time, removing Murano production from Canton reduces complexity at that factory, which assembles a mix of body-on-frame trucks, unibody cars and crossovers. Nissan builds the Altima, Murano, Frontier and Titan pickups, and NV cargo and passenger vans in Mississippi.
One supplier who asked not to be identified said Nissan delayed the shift of Altimas from Tennessee to Mississippi because Nissan needs Altima production there for a while.
Smyrna is winding down the current-generation Rogue, leaving a lull in production volumes until the next Rogue arrives. First-quarter Rogue sales were down 36 percent from a year ago.
“Nissan has decided Rogue volume in Smyrna has to reduce, so that means Altima will not shift 100 percent to Canton,” the supplier told Automotive News. “Nissan is focused on keeping Smyrna full and scaling down production at Canton.”
The Rogue is to be redesigned this year for the first time since 2013. But the timing of that critical launch has been complicated, like much of the industry these days, by the pandemic. Nissan’s U.S. plants shut down March 20; a mid-May reopening has been proposed.
The U.S. product shuffle comes as Nissan adjusts to declining worldwide demand for its products. Nissan Motor Co. is expected to lower its annual sales target by 1 million, Reuters reported this month. Such a reduction would equate to closing three to four assembly plants.
U.S. market share for the Nissan Division dropped to 6.6 percent through the first quarter of 2020, its lowest level since 2008, compared with 9.1 percent through first-quarter 2018, according to the Automotive News Data Center. The decline was partly a result of a strategic decision to cut back on its sales to rental fleet customers.
Nissan Division’s 2019 U.S. vehicle production was down 8.5 percent from the year-ago period, marking its lowest volume since 2013.
More action is on the way. Nissan is expected to unveil a global recovery plan next month that could involve dropping certain products or regional businesses and leaning more on Nissan’s partners.
The Murano is Nissan’s fifth-highest-selling nameplate in the U.S. Deliveries of the midsize crossover soared 34 percent in the first quarter, making it Nissan’s fastest-growing model in the first three months 2020.
