Nissan taps Mexico plant to build Note subcompact for Americas

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Nissan produced more than 683,000 vehicles in Mexico last year, a 13 percent increase from 2011.

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MEXICO CITY (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., the largest automaker in Mexico, will start domestic production of the Note subcompact and export the cars throughout the Americas.

The five-door model will be the third built at Nissan's plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico, according to a statement today.

Nissan will keep making the vehicles in China, India and Thailand while supplying the Americas with Mexico-made Notes, Maria Eugenia Santiago, a company spokeswoman in Mexico City, said.

"For Nissan Americas, Mexico represents a strategic production site for the region," Armando Avila, vice president of manufacturing at the automaker's Mexico unit, said in the statement.

Nissan produced more than 683,000 vehicles in Mexico last year, a 13 percent increase from 2011, the Mexican Automobile Industry Association said Thursday.

Five of the top 10 models sold in the nation last year were from Nissan, pushing the company's local market share to an industry-leading 25 percent, according to the trade group.

Assembly of the Note will begin in the second quarter, Nissan said in the statement.

The automaker is scheduled to unveil the 2014 model of the car on Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Nissan builds the March hatchback and Versa compact sedan in Aguascalientes, where a $2 billion plant under construction will become its third in Mexico after a scheduled opening by year's end.

The automaker also will start producing the NV200 taxi for New York at its factory in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

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