Nissan Plant Field Trip (+ NV sighting)

As mentioned in another thread, my wife and I volunteered to help chaperone our Fifth graders to the Nissan Assembly Center in Canton. Yesterday was the day.

I mean, if you've been to an automotive plant such as this, it's the same. Lots of automated cutting, stamping (BIG hydraulic presses!) automated welding, hand assembly, robotic painting and the like. The kids had a blast, and so did the adults.

The big news (no pics, sadly) was that the new NV line is being built there, for a fall start up. Great news was they had the automated welders there, and were testing them on two preformed NV bodies! So I got to see two in the kind-of distant person. They're going to have a longer wheelbase than a current Suburban, so they're big! I did see some of the workers around them, so I have some idea of scale.

That was the great part for me, getting a chance to see something like this before everyone else does. I'm still worried about the engine choices, but...

What is an NV? Envy? Big SUV?

It's their new Commercial van. If you recall Dodge's Sprinter (A rebadged Mercedes product), you're in the right area.

http://www.nissancommercialvehicles.com/ (flash goes BOOM on startup)

Well, now I know why this is in "Off topic" and not "Grassroots Motorsports".

I'm kicking myself for not having visited Ford's plant in Atlanta, when they still had small tours of the plant that made Tauruses and Sables. I did get to see the parking lot of the NUMMI plant, before Toyota bought the place. I have been past the Nissan plant in Miss....it's huge, or at least it seems to be because it's "all by itself" in the middle of nowhere. On my trips to Fla over the past year I've past the plant that Toyota has nearly finished in Miss....again, HUGE (or huge looking).

Dammit- NO DIESEL?? Argghh. It will probably be a hit anyway. I can see a bunch of armored trucks built on this frame. Wonder if it will be available with right hand drive.

I was able to tour the Corvette plant in Bowling Green last spring, and highly recommend it to anyone! go online & make a reservation. Sadly, no photos allowed......

Looks like it would make a good grassroots RV once they hit the secondhand market.

cwh wrote: What is an NV? Envy? Big SUV?

NV = Nissan Van

They call it a van but it is more akin to a Panel Truck

Another plant to visit would be the Hyundai plant in Alabama. I've driven past it, and though I haven't been in it, I watched a documentary about it. You can see some highlights on the new Sonata commercial. It is very impressive. If the cars coming out of there aren't good, Hyundai just as well pack it in.

OH, the NV, as in

e N ormous V ehicle ?

Without something else nearby to measure it against, the trucks in the last 2 pix look like an attempt to cross an Expedition EL and an old Windstar. SUV in the front....huge van out back. Sort of a truck version of a mullet?

For anyone in the Michigan area, Ford offers tours of the F150 plant in Detroit.

If you're a member of a model-specific car club you can often get the automaker to offer private tours to your club. When they were still being made, the New Edge Cougar Owners club got Mercury to give us a plant tour a couple of times. Mercury was so excited that young people were enthusiastic about one of their cars they even had food for all of us, door prizes (I got a portable CD player one year, a Mercury suitcase the next year) and engineers on hand to answer questions. We even got to see the long rumoured but never confirmed SVT version of the Cougar that was cancelled at the last second.

Bob

In reply to Schmidlap:

Awesome tour, but it was better when they built Mustangs there.

Tom Heath wrote: In reply to Schmidlap: Awesome tour, but it was better when they built Mustangs there.

Is that the old Rouge facility? The one that had the four big smoke stacks?

For reference, the current Suburban has a slightly shorter wheelbase than the NV will have. The tall one is about roomy enough for a six-footer to stand in, so it'll be huge.

One thing I do know: They were mentioning a diesel engine for the Infiniti side of the plant. I haven't seen a thing about it, however.

Type Q wrote: Is that the old Rouge facility? The one that had the four big smoke stacks?

Yeah, it's the Rouge plant. I don't know if it has four big smoke stacks though, I've never actually taken the tour. They completely renovated the plant when they stopped Mustang production and started making F150s there. The plant is now a benchmark for environmentally friendly factories, with a living roof, using plants to clean decades of soil contamination around the factory, etc.

Bob