The investment commitment and staff sacrifices at Nissan’s factory in Los Corrales de Buelna are already starting to bear fruit.
Ultra Competitiveness plan launched in 2020 It plays a key role in securing the future of the Cantabrian plant, as the plant has doubled its sales level with new customers in just two years.

The goals are clear: increased throughput, technological modernization and improved plant performance, Nissan has just announced. It’s a promising plan that doubles business with new customers like John Deere in just two years.

In this line, the turnover generated by new customers currently represents 25% of Nissan Cantabria’s total output. The plant’s production capacity and cutting-edge technology – with the recent opening of the new DISA250 molding line – are creating new business opportunities and opening up new markets. In fact, Jorge Alonso, manager of the Buelna plant, said, “The dedication to the creation of the Business Development and Customer Management department is as important to companies as John Deere, our capacity and new projects. We also involve ourselves in our customers’ product development processes, which results in an improvement in costs and the readiness of our teams.” And thanks to its professionalism, it means added value for Nissan Cantabria.”

As an additional key, Alonso focuses on “the technological modernization and innovation we carry out at the factory, improving the quality of our production”.

The expansion of the business provides a foothold for the Nissan plant in Cantabria. As Luis Zanni, head of Business Development and Customer Management at Nissan Cantabria, said, the good collaboration between John Deere and Nissan has made it possible to go one step beyond production and explore the development of new parts for this customer. . “From the very beginning, we made them participants of the Ultra Competitiveness plan. We want to continue to strengthen the relationship of trust with John Deere and our new customers, to grow with them, to be their partners. We know they value our quality, our service in both development and production, and our delivery assurance. Nissan Cantabria’s commitment to win-win is what enables us to grow together with our customers.”

Growth and diversification

tractor support (also known as the Frame) for Nissan, John Deere, John Deere Arcs-les-Gray (France); front axles for John Deere Mannheim (Germany); Clutch flywheel cover for John Deere Saran factory (France); and the steering knuckles of the John Deere Ibérica factory in Getafe (Spain). Some achieved a weight reduction of up to 25%, which meant significant cost savings for the customer.

Last year, Nissan began manufacturing steering knuckles for the North American market, which represents more than 800,000 parts per year. For this 2022, the company is also producing parts for the Nissan Sendra model for the Mexican market and new products for the John Deere customer that increases the volume of its business plan.

The urgency in the response capacity of Nissan teams was reinforced, along with Nissan Cantabria’s contributions to engineering, development and improvement in the design of parts, recommendations for eliminating anything that does not add value. and, as Jorge Alonso puts it, “it allows us to work on projects internationally, as in this example of the John Deere group with its different headquarters in Europe”.