Nissan Expanding in China to Fight VW and Toyota

NissanNissanJapan, 1932 > present159 models
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wants to compete better with VolkswagenVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
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, ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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and General MotorsGMUnited States of America, 1998 > present8 models
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in China by building a $785 million factory in Dalian, China. Nissan is hoping to capitalize on the expanding growth in Asia that is being dominated by GM and VW. 

Competition in China is getting more fierce as foreign automakers in China expand beyond their original spheres of influence. When the foreign automakers first moved into China, they set up factories with local automakers to build factories. For instance, VW partnered with SAICShanghaiChina, 1958 > 19792 models
, which is strong in northern China. For the most part they would focus on these regions for sales. The north was mostly controlled by European and North American automakers, and the south was controlled by Japanese automakers. 

However, now that more automakers are moving into China, and the market is growing, this is no longer the case. They are beginning to compete more openly with one another. 

Nissan's new factory in Dalian is in northern China where Volkswagen used to dominate. Dalian is also a coastal city with relatively short routes to Japan, which will make shipping components easier. 

The Dalian factory will be operated by Nissan and DongfengNissanJapan, 1932 > present159 models
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and will be able to produce 25,000 cars a year initially. However, by 2017 capacity could reach 240,000 cars a year depending on Chinese market growth. 

China is Nissan's largest market worldwide already, but it wants to dominate China. RenaultRenaultFrance, 1898 > present189 models
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-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn wants to boost Chinese sales to 2.3 million cars a year by 2015. It will launch 30 new cars there between now and 2015. 

Nissan also wants to dominate the luxury car segment in China and just moved the headquarters of Infiniti to Hong Kong. It hired former head of AudiAudiGermany, 1909 > present83 models
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of America Johan de Nysschen as the worldwide head of Infiniti. 

Johan de Nysschen Becomes Infiniti Global Boss

Source: Automotive News