Nissan Casting Plant still trucking during COVID-19

NISSAN has confirmed that its Casting Plant in Melbourne’s south-east is still operational despite the ongoing economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, however the facility is currently on a significantly reduced schedule to reflect global demand.

The Dandenong South factory has been in operation for nearly 40 years and produces a number of components for Nissan and its global portfolio of vehicles.

It produces niche parts including inverter covers for the Leaf EV, transmission cases for the Navara pick-up and water jackets for the hybrid Note hatch not sold here, utilising machines and the well-trained local workforce to create complex components for the Japanese manufacturer.

With the sharp downturn in vehicle production and sales from the impacts of COVID-19, there were questions as to whether the plant would remain open for business, however Nissan Casting Australia Plant managing director Peter Jones assured GoAuto the facility is still running – albeit at a reduced capacity.

“In response to the continuing COVID-19 outbreak and decreased global demand in the automotive market, we are operating on a reduced schedule at Nissan Casting Australia Plant (NCAP) during June,” he said.

“As global vehicle production increases over the coming months, we expect NCAP production to return to full capacity.”

The brand has not revealed how significantly production of the plant has been affected, however at full capacity, it is capable of producing around 2.6 million diecast aluminium parts and more than 16,000 towbars per year, with an annual export value of around $82.5 million.

It also employs around 200 workers, and operates three shifts a day, six days per week at full capacity.

With Nissan announcing its four-year plan last month including a range of austerity measures, there was a chance that the NCAP could have an uncertain future, however Nissan Australia managing director Stephen Lester said the plant has not been affected by the four-year plan announcement.

The financial plan involves a 20 per cent reduction in production capacity, and a cut in fixed costs of $A4.21 billion.

It was also announced in July last year that 12,500 jobs would be trimmed from Nissan’s global workforce, however Mr Lester assured at the time that the cuts would not affect the NCAP’s operations.