Infiniti Researching Canadian Assembly Factory

It’s no longer a secret that Infiniti is trying to diversify its manufacturing mark. As part of a larger Nissan strategy to localize production and leave the burden of yen fluctuations, Infiniti will establish store in China and at Nissan’s Sunderland place in the UK. Next one is North American site.

Currently, the Infiniti JX is the only Infniti model built outside Japan, but that will have to transform under Nissan’s new strategy. Infiniti Head Johan de Nysschen informed the Wall Street Journal that in addition to the U.S. and Mexico, Canada can be a profitable alternative for the new factory.

Canadian Industry Head Christian Paradis is going to meet with de Nysschen in Hong Kong this week. A new plant will cost about $2 billion, or around half of what enlargement would cost at an existing place, and would add 2,000 direct work places. Some government contribution would likely be provided in exchange for the factory. Toyota got $34 million from both the Ontario and Canadian federal governments to update an existing factory to construct Lexus SUVs, and that amount was very low for auto factory investment.

Nevertheless, Canada offers few advantages in comparison to the other authorities, for example upcoming free trade agreement with the EU. This treaty was cited in the past as an attractive reason for Audi to build Q3s and other models in Mexico, particularly those small high class crossovers, which are required on the continent.