Nissan Moving to Tennessee

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Nissan Motor Co. announced Thursday it is moving its North American headquarters from California to the Nashville area.


The headquarters, which has been based in Gardena, will move to the Williamson County suburb of Franklin, 15 miles southwest of Nashville. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made the announcement on Thursday morning at a news conference at the Tennessee State Capitol.


Ghosn, who cited lower real estate and business taxes as major reasons for the move, said the company will invest $70 million to build a new headquarters building. The building will be designed to accommodate the current headquarters campus, future new hires and some employees now working in other Nissan facilities in North America. Construction of the new building is expected to begin in 2006, and the facility is expected to be completed in 2008, Nissan said in a statement.


The first employees will begin moving from Gardena to Tennessee next June. Nissan currently employs about 1,300 people at its North American headquarters campus.


Moving Nissan’s headquarters to Franklin will put it closer to the company’s $2.1 billion vehicle assembly plant and purchasing division in nearby Smyrna, Tenn., where 6,700 employees are located. Another 1,300 employees work at a powertrain assembly plant in Decherd, Tenn.


Nissan North America Inc. was created in 1990 to coordinate all of the company’s activities in the United States, Canada and Mexico to enhance the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of Nissan vehicles. Nissan North America markets 11 vehicle lines through 1,100 dealers in the continental U.S. Nissan operations at the Gardena facility began in 1960.

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