Nissan Breaks Ground In Tennesee For Daimler JV Engine Plant

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Nissan broke ground on a new engine plant expected to come online in 2014. The plant will build 4-cylinder gasoline engines for Infiniti cars as well as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

The plant will add 400 jobs and produce as many as 250,000 engines per year. Nissan produced a range of 4, 6 and 8-cylinder engines at the plant, located in Decherd, a small town near Nashville.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • THE_F0nz THE_F0nz on May 10, 2012

    I really want to see a comparo of the new C250 and the new 328i. 4-Cyl turbo semi-luxury...

  • Joeveto3 Joeveto3 on May 10, 2012

    With The Brands dropping 4's into everything (I still can't believe the 3-series went this way) does any of it really matter?

    • See 1 previous
    • Onyxtape Onyxtape on May 10, 2012

      @DeadWeight Nah, the typical C class driver will probably daydream about how his $35000 C250 was the result of the personal handiwork of a hardworking, efficient German craftsman out of Stuttgart, then glance at the Infiniti and tell himself that it's got a crappy, mass-manufactured Japanese engine that is just so low class...

  • Fintail jim Fintail jim on May 11, 2012

    That's it. I've purchased my last Mercedes-Benz (I currently have 2 and have owned 7 altogether). It's not that I think Nissan isn't capable of doing a good job assembling engines. It's that a Mercedes-Benz is no longer what it was. Presently I drive a 2007 C280 with a 3.0 liter V6. It replaced my dream car (a 1995 E320 coupe with the 3.2 liter in-line 6). My wife drives a 2010 GLK 350 (2WD) which (happily) replaced a 2003 ML350. Quality-wise the latter three can't touch the E320. I only sold it because it was becoming typically expensive of a 12-year-old Benz with 150k miles. The GLK is as good as the ML in fit and finish but its size and gas mileage meet our requirements and I hope it will be potentially less expensive to maintain. The ML had just gone over 100,000 when we traded it and had made more than it share of trips to the dealer to fix minor things, thankfully under warranty. Here's a trivial but telling example of the "decline" of the once mighty marque: I had the C280 in for service a while back. I was given a 2011 C300 as a loaner car. When you lock and set the alarm on the 2007 C280 there is a confirming triple "chirp." When you do the same on the 2011 C300 the car horn give a brief "toot." Yeah, I know, picky, picky, but that is just more evidence M-B is truly building to a price point now and not a specification - no separate signal for the car alarm. Back in the mid-90s, when I had one of my real Mercedes-Benz at the dealers for service, I was talking to one of the salesmen (he had a at that point sold me three cars so we knew each other reasonably well). I told him if Mercedes-Benz attemped to compete with this upstart Lexus on Lexus' terms the Japanese company would each Mercedes-Benz lunch. I was primarily referring to customer service from the dealer which could still be indifferent but it holds true also for the cost vs. quality equation. He acknowledged my remark with a softly mumbled "I know." By the way, as even grown men so childishly do, I participated in a friendly drag race in my E320 with an unknown driver in a Nissam Maxima. This was back when both cars were relatively new - so late 1990's. I always thougth my Benz was pretty potent for a car with a 195 cu. in. six (same engine size as in my grandmothers '61 Chevy II save for the double overhead cams, variable valve timing, etc.). I damn near lost that little contest to the Nissan. Surely I could have taken him on top end. Possibly the only reason I did prevail in that stop light grand prix is that I trusted my brakes more than he did (or should have trusted) his and kept my foot on the accelerator longer. P. S. I guess I'll have to change my user name from "fintail jim" to something else. Yes I did own a very nice, original 1967 230S. I was slow and got pathetic gas milage for a 140 cu. in. six but rode like a magic carpet and was built like a bank vault.

  • Banger Banger on May 11, 2012

    This is why Tennessee loves Nissan. This plant combined with the hiring for Leaf production in Smyrna makes two big job announcements coming from the company in an economy that's still struggling. If they'd put a damn manual transmission option back on the thing, I'd gladly consider an Altima, built right here in the Volunteer State, for a daily driver. It's not that I hate the CVT (it's actually quite good for an automatic's intended purpose, IMHO), it's just that I much prefer to shift my own gears vs. drive ANY slushbox.

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