Staff and Wire Reports
Japanese automaker Nissan, which already detailed a $17 billion commitment to the coming generation of electric vehicles, announced this week it will invest $500 million to transform its Canton, Mississippi assembly plant to build all-new EV models.
Nissan is vowing to produce 23 EV models for the Nissan and Infiniti brands globally, including 15 all-new electrified models, by 2030. The company’s investment will also support retraining and upskilling for nearly 2,000 jobs at the Canton plant.
Canton production on two of the new EV models will begin by 2025, Nissan said. The EVs will be under both the Nissan and Infiniti brands there.
The announcement “is the first of several new investments that will drive the EV revolution in the United States,” said Ashwani Gupta, chief operating officer, Nissan Motor Corporation, Ltd. “Nissan is making a strong investment in Canton’s future, bringing the latest technology, training and process to create a truly best-in-class EV manufacturing team.”
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The automaker is targeting 40 percent of its U.S. vehicle sales volume to be fully electric by 2030. The Nissan Ambition 2030 initiative overall for 25 electrified models globally.
The Canton Assembly Plant, which was put into operation 19 years ago, employs close to 5,000 people and has built nearly five million vehicles, including the Altima, Frontier and TITAN models.
Although Tesla may the best known EV maker in the market, legacy automakers such as Nissan, GM, Ford and Toyota are making multi-billion-dollar commitments to EV model development.
