Nissan to boost output at underused Ariya EV factory after rocky start

KAMINOKAWA, Japan — Nissan says its new Intelligent Factory, where the Japanese carmaker's most advanced production techniques are being used to manufacture the Ariya crossover, is running smoothly after a rocky two-year start that crimped production of the key electric vehicle.

The high-tech line is operating at only two-thirds capacity. To boost efficiency, Nissan is considering adding another vehicle and even looking at introducing advanced gigacasting, said Eiji Kikuchi, manager of the Tochigi Plant that houses the Nissan Intelligent Factory line and a separate legacy line making other models.

"It's underutilized — we have more capacity," Kikuchi said on a Dec. 8 tour of the site. "It's a totally new factory with totally new processes. We had many headwinds."

Nissan warned U.S. dealers earlier this year that supply of the flagship Ariya would be limited, even after its much-delayed rollout. At one point, the new nameplate was scheduled to debut in mid-2021. But deliveries of the base model Ariya began in Japan only in May 2022. Nissan told U.S. dealers then to stop placing orders for the vehicle amid tight supply.

But now, the factory is humming along and able to keep up with demand, Kikuchi said.

With newfound confidence in troubleshooting, Nissan plans to spread its advanced technology to other facilities that will build the company's next generation of EVs. The technologies used at Tochigi likely preview those planned for Nissan's Canton, Miss., plant, which is being retooled to make four new EVs for the U.S. market from around 2026.

Hideyuki Sakamoto, Nissan's executive vice president for manufacturing, told Japan's Nikkei business daily that Intelligent Factory production systems will be deployed to five plants worldwide by 2030 and be linked to new vehicle models.

The birthing pains at Tochigi Plant, just north of Tokyo, helped pave the way. Tochigi has annual capacity of 193,000 vehicles on its two lines. Line one, its legacy line, makes the Nissan Z and GT-R sports cars and the Infiniti Q50. The Intelligent Factory making the Ariya replaced a second line that used to make other gasoline-powered models.

From April to October, the first seven months of the company's fiscal year, the complex made 35,280 vehicles, including 26,900 Ariya models coming out of Nissan's Intelligent Factory. Those figures imply an annualized production rate of around 60,500 vehicles overall and 46,100 for the Ariya.

Nissan declined to give an overall utilization rate for the plant or for line one. But Kikuchi confirmed the Intelligent Factory line is running at two-thirds capacity.

The automaker's disclosures suggest capacity of around 70,000 vehicles for the Intelligent Factory and 120,000 for line one. The implication is that the older line is operating far below its capacity, as it slowly churns out low-volume niche models. The legacy line is running on only one shift.

Nissan announced the Intelligent Factory in 2019, saying it would invest about 33 billion yen ($226.1 million) to reboot its Tochigi Plant as an EV hub, making it more flexible, competitive and environmentally friendly. The result is a Nissan blueprint for factory overhauls worldwide.

New production methods are deployed at Tochigi Plant, including several world-first techniques, for a 10 percent production cost reduction over older methods, despite building more complex vehicles.

One key innovation is a new powertrain assembly technique called a simultaneous underfloor mounting operation. This technique delivers new efficiencies by mounting all the vehicle's powertrain components simultaneously from a plug-in pallet that is lifted into the body and fitted by robots. The front, middle and rear of the pallet are made of interchangeable modules that can accommodate multiple layouts for electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles.

Kikuchi said Nissan is also studying gigacasting, though he declined to offer details. The technique, pioneered by Tesla, eliminates countless individual metal parts by casting a vehicle's sections as giant modules. Toyota, Volvo, Ford and Hyundai are considering or adopting the technology.

Nissan has blamed the Intelligent Factory's slow ramp-up on the COVID-19 pandemic and the global semiconductor shortage. Travel restrictions in Japan also made it difficult for overseas technicians to visit to set up and fine-tune equipment from international vendors.

Ariya production started in October 2021. In the fiscal year ending March 31, the factory made only 27,600 vehicles and sold 16,900 globally. From April through October, output ramped up to 26,900 vehicles and worldwide sales totaled 23,800.

Global sales of the redesigned Z sports car, by contrast, amounted to only 2,200 in that April to October period. In the U.S., Nissan sold 9,699 Ariya EVs and 1,309 Z sports cars from January through September.