Nissan’s Resende Industrial Complex in Brazil is celebrating its fourth anniversary with major production and export milestones.
In July 2017, the Brazilian plant welcomed 600 new employees and introduced a new shift. Employees tweaked processes and ramped up production to meet rising demand for Nissan Kicks, the brand’s most awarded crossover in the region. Since then, major achievements have followed to streamline production for the domestic and overseas markets. This week, the plant celebrates its fourth anniversary, which coincides with the milestone of 200,000 cars made – thus affirming its position as Nissan’s key production hub for the Brazilian and Latin American markets.
In the last 12 months, Nissan Kicks has made headlines. The crossover has been exported to Argentina since January 2018 and was ranked the segment’s top-selling model in the domestic market last March. With its three locally produced models – the Kicks crossover, as well as the Nissan March hatchback and the Nissan Versa sedan – the Resende Industrial Complex recently surpassed the mark of 30,000 units shipped to overseas markets.
Resende also assembles flex-fuel engines: a 1.0-liter 3-cylinder 12-valve unit, and a 1.6-liter 16-valve engine. Both engines contributed to yet another milestone: 200,000 powertrains since the start of operations.
More than R$ 3.3 billion (1,692 billion USD) was invested since the launch of the industrial design phase. The comprehensive production process starts at the stamping shop and ends at the testing track, including a powertrain plant. To meet a rise in demand both in the domestic and overseas markets, 600 new jobs were created in the last 12 months, and now the Resende Industrial Complex has 2,400 direct employees.
Marco Silva, president at Nissan Brazil, affirms that one of the secrets of Resende’s success is its one team spirit.
“At Nissan, we have the mindset that we are all part of one single team,” said Silva.
“In addition to being endowed with high-end technology, Resende invests in its human capital and the outcome is premium quality products. We are continuously working to innovate and our production processes have received positive reviews, placing Resende’s Industrial Complex as one of Nissan’s top sites globally.”
