Nissan Broadens Lineup of Its Russian-Made Cars

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - Nissan Rus commenced production of its third model, the Murano midsize SUV, at its St. Petersburg plant this week. Locally assembled cars will be offered solely in the Russian market, with sales starting next month. Import of the Murano will be halted on the same time. The company is expected to build some 5 thousand units in 2011. Nissan sold 2,725 Muranos last year in Russia.

The 50 thousand capacity St. Petersburg facility produced 24,500 Nissan Teana and X-Trail models last year. The car maker is currently operating the plant on a two-shift basis, and has plans to add a third shift and additional workers there in 2Q2011.