Towbar business 'pilot' for wider program

Nissan's global head of powertrain development, Atsushi Hirose, has stated the company's 'toe-in-the-water' accessory manufacturing business could spawn more manufacturing and assembly operations Down Under.

Speaking at today's commencement of manufacturing ceremony at Nissan's casting plant in Dandenong (Vic), Nissan Motor Company Corporate Vice President Powertrain, Hirose, explained that the co-location of the new accessory manufacturing line and Nissan's established casting facility was unique in the Nissan world. He stated the mix of manufacturing operations, Nissan Casting Australia's (NCAP) flexible practices and the expertise of its engineers and workforce, presented "opportunities" to add to the company's range of products and exports.

NCAP is becoming recognised as a niche supplier of difficult-to-cast parts and a centre of engineering expertise for the South East Asian region for Nissan. Currently it casts around 40 components that are used in the manufacturer of around 28 Nissan vehicles in plants around the globe. The operation is a tier one supplier to local GM, Ford and Toyota operations and in 2012 will commence exports of complex, high-accuracy castings used in Nissan's LEAF electric car.

The latest announcement sees the installation of a small but highly automated assembly line to fabricate and finish steel and alloy parts including towbars and nudge bars. It's this relatively small manufacturing operation that gifts the business wider opportunities, says Hirose.

According to NCAP boss and Nissan Australia Aftersales Executive General Manager, Tony Carraturo, the mix of steel and alloy fabrication and casting expertise of the local operation delivers the potential to widen its services to Nissan globally.

Carraturo told motoring.com.au: "By introducing diversity to the plant we are actually opening up [the potential of] new projects.

"[Here] We can combine casting with assembly. We can combine value-adding [projects]. We can resolve other issues where for example in Japan and overseas they need [to involve] three plants for one part – we can do it all here as a sub-assembly," he explained.

Carraturo said the sub-assemblies that NCAP could potentially supply include transmission components and suspension parts.

In commenting on the developments, powertrain boss Hirose was happy to categorise the operation as a 'pilot test case'.

"My feelings are maybe there are many opportunities. This is very important," Hirose said.

Initially the new fabrication and finishing operation will build towbars, sports bars and nudge bars for Nissan's SUV and LCV range. Nissan plans to build around 30,000 towbars per annum. It did not announce volume estimates for the other parts.

In the next 12 months or so it will expand its product range to cover the full Nissan line-up including passenger cars (in the case of towbars).

Nissan will also explore opportunities to build bars, etc, for other OEMs including Honda, Mazda and Mitsubishi. Representatives of the brands were invited to today's 'job one' kick-off.

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