CANTON, Miss. (AP) _ Nissan Motor Co. says it invested $170 million at plants in Mississippi and Tennessee as it retooled to make a new Altima sedan model.
The company officially marked the start of production in Canton Thursday with a ceremony including Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. The company also makes the cars at its Smyrna, Tennessee, plant, where production of the sixth-generation Altima began in August.
Nissan says it now can make 450,000 vehicles yearly at the 15-year-old Canton plant, and says more than 6,500 Nissan employees and contractors work at the complex.
The company currently assembles the Altima, Murano SUV, Frontier and Titan pickup trucks and NV cargo and passenger vans in Canton.
Nissan says it has invested $3.4 billion in Canton and nearly $12 billion overall in U.S. manufacturing operations.
