Nissan announced today the opening of its second plant in Thailand, which will be used to produce the new Nissan NP300 Navara
pick-up truck for the Thailand market as well as export to 45 countries
around the world. The 580,000 square metre facility was built at an
investment of 3.7 billion baht, bringing with it 2,000 new jobs for
Thailand. The plant’s full capacity is expected to reach 150,000 units
per annum.
“Thailand is the engine of growth for us in the region, so we’re
excited to be opening this second plant today that will produce our
latest pickup. It signifies our optimism for Thailand, as a growing
automotive market, a center of manufacturing excellence for the region
and an export hub for the world,” said Fumiaki Matsumoto, Nissan’s
executive vice president responsible for global manufacturing.
The new Nissan NP300 Navara was unveiled last month in Thailand.
The model also features a lower roof, higher ground clearance and a
larger load area. Narrow- and wide-bodies, king- and double-cabs as well
as 2WD and 4WD versions are available. Under the bonnet resides either a
2.5 litre DOHC four-cylinder petrol or a 2.5 litre DOHC four-cylinder
turbodiesel, mated to either a six-speed manual or seven-speed
automatic. The most powerful version of the diesel engine does 188
horsepower and 450 Nm of torque.
The sedan-like interior has features such as rear air-cond vents,
push button start, ‘Zero-Gravity’ seats, as well as a 3D colour TFT
screen that displays turn-by-turn navigation instructions, compass, fuel
economy indicator and audio information. Safety features include
Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Active Brake Limited Slip (ABLS), Hill
Start Assist (HSA) and Hill Descent Control (HDC).
