Nissan Motor Co. expanded its production footprint in China when a Nissan Qashqai compact crossover rolled out of a renovated assembly plant in Changzhou on November 18. Zhou Bin, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Changzhou Municipal Committee and secretary of the Party Working Committee of Xinbei District, and Chen Zhengchun, vice mayor of Changzhou Municipal People’s Government, attended the launching ceremony.

The factory, previously run by Dongfeng Motor Group, Nissan’s joint venture partner, has become Dongfeng-Nissan’s first production site in east China, and the fifth across the country.

The renovated plant can produce up to 120,000 vehicles a year.

Aside from Changzhou, Dongfeng-Nissan assembles vehicles under the Nissan brand in four other cities: north China’s Zhengzhou, northeast China’s Dalian, central China’s Xiangyang and south China’s Guangzhou.

Nissan’s China sales grew for the second straight month in October, rising 5 percent to 146,028, according to Nissan’s China office.

It is learned that within three months from November 18, customers who purchase Nissan Qashqai and apply for vehicle license plates in Changzhou will receive a 3,000 yuan special subsidy from the local government.