Nissan to Produce 10,000 Cars a Year in Burma

By Reuters 20 September 2013

TOKYO — Nissan Motor Company will start complete knock down production of the Sunny sedan in Burma with a Malaysian partner in 2015, it said on Friday, becoming the first major global carmaker to assemble cars in the Southeast Asian country.

Nissan’s Malaysian partner Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd will build a plant in the Pegu Division, some 70 km (43 miles) northeast of Burma’s biggest city, Burma, with an annual capacity of over 10,000 vehicles, Nissan said in a statement.

“We are confident that Myanmar will be an important economic engine for the region and are committed to help develop its automotive industry,” said Nissan Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn in the statement.

The companies will use parts sourced from Thailand, India, China and Japan as well as by local suppliers, Nissan spokesman Chris Keeffe said.

Global carmakers are rushing to set up in the Myanmar, which until recently was under international economic sanctions.

Earlier this year, Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, a smaller carmaker, resumed production of vehicles in Burma for the first time in three years, manufacturing about 100 small trucks a month.

In July, Nissan and Tan Chong Motor opened Nissan’s first showroom in Burma, where they sell a pickup truck and a commercial van as well as provide after service and spare parts.