Nissan addressing auto flaws

JACKSON, Miss. — Nissan Motor Co. has sent almost 200 engineers from its Tokyo headquarters to solve problems consumers are reporting with vehicles made at its plants in Canton and in Smyrna, Tenn.

Nissan communications director Fred Standish said Tuesday that engineers would also visit Nissan supplier plants, a Nissan engineering firm in Michigan and Nissan’s San Diego design center.

The engineers were dispatched after consumer complaints about Nissan were published in the April 2004 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.

The study, conducted annually, questioned 51,000 consumers who bought or leased 2004-model trucks and cars. The survey is designed to spot complaints that occur in at least one out of every 100 vehicles. Consumer gripes about Canton-made vehicles included wind noise, vibrating brake pedals and paint blemishes.

The Canton plant opened in May 2003. It produces the new Altima, the Quest minivan, the Armada sport utility vehicle and the Titan truck for Nissan and the QX56 SUV for Infiniti. The Tennessee plant produces the Altima.

Nissan ranked in 21st place on last year’s J.D. Power survey. It plunged to 32nd place this year.

Standish said the problems would not mean managerial reshuffling or work-force changes at one of the Nissan plants. “We’re fully satisfied with the quality of our work force in Mississippi. People picture planeloads of engineers descending like a SWAT team on the plants,” he said.

Standish described the engineers’ visits as normal fine-tuning for the Canton plant, which is barely a year old. The plant has the capacity to manufacture 400,000 vehicles annually.

He said that Nissan sent mechanical, structural, electrical, chemical and materials engineers to improve product assembly and quality.