Siam Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd. (SNA) announced today that it is now a global hub for the production and assembly of the Nissan Frontier Navara and has begun exporting the pickup truck to 120 markets.

"With a 55-year history in Thailand, Siam Nissan will be taking the next step in its growth evolution as it becomes the largest central hub in Southeast Asia for parent company Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Japan)," said Thierry Viadieu, president of SNA, at today's press conference to announce the export of the Nissan Frontier Navara. "We are now ready to manufacture and export a wide range of high quality versions of this globally successful product to more than 120 markets."

The Bangna Trad plant will be Nissan's largest facility in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as the third largest in Asia, after Japan and China.

Located just outside of Bangkok in the small province of Samutprakarn, the world-class Thai assembly facility is a key component of Nissan's business strategy in the region and now globally. The facility applies the Nissan Production Way and the Nissan Integrated Manufacturing System standards to the manufacturing of pickup trucks and passenger cars. The plant's development into a production and export hub is the result of investments announced in 2005 for expanded production capacity, equipment upgrades and other improvements.

Current annual production capacity for the plant is 140,000 units.

20,000 units of the Nissan Frontier Navara are planned for export in fiscal year 2007, with a planned ramp-up to more than 45,000 units by 2010. Among the export markets for the Nissan Frontier Navara are Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, North and Central Africa.

Siam Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Bangkok, with assembly facilities in Samutprakarn. The company employs 1,500 workers and manufactures the Frontier Navara, Frontier, Teana, Tiida Sedan and Tiida Hatchback.