JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, PRESIDENT OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT WELCOMED BY CARLOS GHOSN AT NISSAN'S AVILA PLANT
President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was welcomed today by Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. at the Avila-based Nissan Light Duty Trucks plant in Spain.
Joining the President was the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Joan Clos. This visit was organised to celebrate the recent start of the production of the new Cabstar truck and the renewed Atleón truck.
In his speech to employees, Mr Ghosn said: “The platform of Cabstar will be used for all Nissan light trucks in the world. This demonstrates the importance of our operations in Spain, not only for being the European base for Light Duty Trucks but also for being one of our key global bases.” Commenting on the increase of production volume of the Spanish Industrial Operations, Mr Ghosn added: “Our Spanish operations have a commendable production record. But in our industry no one can be complacent, because every year the standard gets higher”.
During his visit, Spanish President, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, was presented with an overview of Nissan’s factory in Avila. The Avila plant is a key element of Nissan’s strategy on both European and global levels. The vehicles produced in this plant are exclusively for the European market, where Nissan wishes to be a strong competitor.
Nissan has identified the light commercial vehicle business as one of four breakthrough areas for the company under its three-year, Nissan Value-Up business plan, which began in fiscal year 2005. Nissan set ambitious objectives for the LCV business, which are to double operating profit to 8% and grow its sales volumes by 40% to 434,000 units worldwide by fiscal year 2007. Nissan expects to meet these objectives by fiscal year 2006, one year ahead of schedule.
The new Cabstar is an all-new truck which ranges from 2.8 to 4.5 T GVW and was designed jointly by Nissan engineers in Spain and Japan. Cabstar’s production first began in Avila, ahead of Japan, demonstrating confidence in the plant’s capabilities. Nissan has also started production of the renewed Atleon truck which ranges from 3.5 to 15 T GVW and features EURO IV compliant engines. For these two projects Nissan has made a total investment of 140 million euros.
The Avila plant has a workforce of 746 employees, 222 of whom were recently recruited. In 2006, the factory will produce a total of 21,600 units, an increase of 5.7% compared to 2005. From February 2007 Nissan will increase its production volume by 10,000 units per year due to the OEM agreement with Renault Trucks (Volvo Group) for the supply of a light truck based on the new Cabstar.
Nissan employs 6,800 people in Spain and has production facilities in Barcelona, Avila, Cantabria and Navarra as well as logistic centres for vehicle and parts distribution. Nissan’s Spanish operations include a National Sales Company that oversees Sales and Marketing for the company’s products in Spain. More than 2,700 million euros has been invested by Nissan in Spain since its establishment in the country in 1980.
