Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. will move production of its Rogue crossover SUV from its factory in Kyushu, Japan, to its facility in Smyrna, Tenn., Nissan's top operations executive for the Americas said.
The shift, which will take place by 2013, will bring more than 100,000 units of production to the Smyrna plant, said Carlos Tavares, executive vice president and chairman of the management committee-Americas for Nissan.
"The strong yen is a serious challenge for all Japanese manufacturers," Tavares told attendees at the Society of Automotive Analysts' (SAA) 2011 Automotive Outlook Conference.
He noted that in 2007, one U.S. dollar was worth 118 yen; as of today, one U.S. dollar is worth 83 yen.
Nissan plans to reduce its exposure to the yen by increasing the "localization of our manufacturing base across the globe," Tavares said.
