(September 14, 2012) Nissan plans to shift output of the Murano crossover to its Smyrna, Tenn., plant from Japan, as it overhauls production amid the soaring yen, a news report said. The changeover will come around 2014, when the Murano is expected to undergo a full model change, Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo business daily reported Thursday.

Nissan built 85,000 Muranos in 2011 at plants in Japan, Russia and China. But 90 percent were made at the company’s Kyushu plant in southwestern Japan, the report said. About 70 percent of that plant’s output was exported to the United States.

Nissan spokesman Chris Keefe declined to comment about future production plans and could not immediately say how many Muranos the company manufactures, according to the Automotive News.

Moving the Murano to Smyrna would put production at a plant already making two vehicles off the same platform, the Altima and Maxima sedans. It would also counter the exchange rate hit taken by vehicles exported from Japan.

Source: Automotive News