Nissan to hire 1,000 more workers for US plant

Nissan will hire another 1,000 workers at its Mississippi plant as it expands production in the United States, the Japanese automaker said Thursday. The new hires will bring the plant\'s workforce to 4,500 people by the end of the year as Nissan adds its Sentra compact car, Frontier pickup truck and Xterra sport utility vehicle to the assembly line. Nissan\'s Canton Assembly Plant -- a 3.5 million square foot facility on 1,400 acres outside of Jackson, Mississippi -- started production in 2003 and has a capacity of 400,00 vehicles a year. Its Smyrna, Tennessee plant -- a 5.4 million square foot facility which currently employs 3,400 people -- started production in 1983 and has the capacity to build 550,000 vehicles a year. Nissan began construction of a new facility at its Tennessee engine plant that will produce engines for its luxury Infiniti brand and Mercedes-Benz models. Nissan has also opened new training facilities in Tennessee, California, Texas and New Jersey over the past four years and will soon be opening facilities in Washington, DC and Chicago.