Nissan Announces Production Suppliers To Mississippi Plant

ByDeborah Austin Aiming toward totally integrated vehicle assembly at its new Canton, Miss., plant -- where vehicle launch is planned for summer 2003 -- Nissan North America has announced an initial wave of production suppliers. At Canton, Nissan will concentrate on having suppliers assemble and deliver components in the same sequence as vehicles created on its production lines. Suppliers building adjacent to the Nissan plant include Calsonic Kansei North America, supplying front-end modules, exhaust systems, catalytic converters, and A/C plumbing; T&WA Inc., for tire and wheel assemblies; and Lextron/Visteon Automotive Systems LLC, offering front-end and cockpit modules. Suppliers building plants within two miles of the Nissan plant are Johnson Controls Inc., supplying seats; Mi-Tech Steel Inc., which will process coiled steel; Systems Electro-Coating LLC, which will apply anti-corrosion electrodeposition primer to sheet metal components; and Tower Automotive, making vehicle frames. Calsonic Kansei also will build a plant in Vicksburg, about 60 miles from Canton. Nissan North America is part of Nissan Motor Co., Tokyo.