Auto giant Nissan Motors announced on October 19, 2012, that it will introduce a third shift at its vehicle assembly plant in Tennessee. The latest development has created more than 800 jobs.
The job announcements were made by Governor Bill Haslam at an economic development conference. Haslam added that this will be the first time that the plant will be operating in three shifts. After the announcement on Friday, the total new jobs added to the plant reaches more than 2,000 since the middle of last year.
The plant first became operative in the year 1983 and currently has about 5,600 workers. Bill Krueger, the Vice Chairman of ‘Nissan Americas’ said, “Our investment in creating hundreds of new jobs demonstrates Nissan’s long-time commitment to our employees, Smyrna, and the state of Tennessee”.
The Smyrna plant manufactures Nissan’s most popular car Altima sedan, in addition to other models. The company will begin production of the all-electric Leaf in the month of December, and the assembly of Rogue will begin at Smyrna next year. This will also mark the first time that the Rogue will be manufactured in the US. The announcement from Nissan that jobs will be created as well is positive news for the automotive sector in Tennessee.