Nissan Motor’s new American leader said the automaker is aiming to “maximum” production at America’s largest production plant, with President Donald Trump’s 25% car rates.
Christian Moonier, who chaired Nissan America in January, said the tariffs are accelerating the plans already needed for carmakers to increase domestic production and support the turnaround of their battle US operations.
“We have big facilities, great capacity, we don’t have the maximum capacity today. There’s still more room for improvements,” Meunier told CNBC in a virtual interview Wednesday. “We are looking to sell more US products and coordinate vehicles coming from Mexico and Japan along the way.”
Meunier said his “ultimate goal” is to “maximise” the automaker’s 6 million-square-foot facility in Smyrna, Tennessee. The facility can produce 640,000 vehicles a year in three shifts, he said. Last year, it produced more than 314,500 vehicles in two shifts of about 5,700 people.
“We are looking at making the most of our capabilities and making Smyrna a former powerhouse,” he said. “That’s my ultimate goal… to fill up the plants and make lots of money again.”
Meunier refused to estimate the time frame for hitting its maximum production at a plant that currently produces four products, including the automaker Nissan Rogue. He said it would take time to change plans and move production.
“As I explained about the existing models in the US, we’re committed to planning to increase production and deliver some products to the next two years or to the US market. But that can’t happen overnight,” he said.
Meunier’s comments come two days after Trump said he was trying to “support” some car makers.
Nissan is considering adding hybrid production to the Smyrna and adding new products such as Infinity models, Meunier said. He also said the company is analyzing the rise in production of powertrain components such as engines and the rise in content in the country.
“The good thing is that we have the flexibility. We have the ability to accelerate and do things faster than we normally would,” Meunier said. “I was already working on it before the tariffs because I’m sure localization is the way.”
Despite Trump’s withdrawals on other-national-based collections last week, tariffs on imported vehicles to the US have been in effect since April 3rd. Additional charges for automotive parts are expected to come into effect by May 3rd.
Meunier said tariffs on these potential parts would hurt the company and its plans.
“Hopefully there will be a solution that won’t hurt completely. “Hopefully there will be a compromise in between.”
Nissan has two assembly plants in Mexico, producing a variety of vehicles, including imports of Nissan Kick and Nissan Versa. According to Mexico’s UNOTV, in 2024, Nissan produced nearly 670,000 units in Mexico, and reportedly exported more than 456,000 people.
In the US, Nissan says it has an assembly facility that can produce more than 1 million vehicles, 1.4 million engines, 1.4 million forged pieces and 456,000 castings per year. Of its full capacity, the automaker produced approximately 525,600 vehicles in the US in 2024.
Apart from Smyrna, the company has a large powertrain plant in Tennessee and another heavy vehicle assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi.
The Canton plant currently produces Nissan Ultima sedans and Nissan Frontier mid-sized pickup trucks. Altima’s single shift employs approximately 5,000 workers and two shifts in the frontier.
Meunier said that frontiers, which have experienced a significant market share decline from about 7% to 8% in recent years, have fallen from about 7% to 8% of the segment.
Nissan has reduced fraud and Pathfinder pricing from $640 to nearly $2,000, depending on the vehicle and model, in response to tariffs. We have also stopped new orders from the US for two SUVs of Mexican cuisine, due to the Infiniti Luxury brand.
“Nissan has been struggling a bit lately, but we have good plans,” he said. “We have excellent products in our pipeline. We have very good products that are successful. We are going to turn that around despite the tariffs.”
