Nissan has officially started U.S. production of the all-new 2021 Rogue at its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. It is a very important moment for Nissan USA as the Rogue is the brand’s best-selling nameplate in the country, with more than 3 million units sold over 13 years. The 2021 Rogue also has the difficult mission of leading Nissan’s turnaround in the United States.
The third-generation Rogue is built using
advanced manufacturing technology such as virtual reality and collaborative
robots (‘cobots’). Nissan says it has deployed more collaborative car
manufacturing robots with the new Rogue than with any other previous model
launch. The robots are used to assist with a number of jobs to ensure
repetitive tasks are done the same way every time. Nissan says this helps free
up workers to perform more skilled tasks and produce higher-quality vehicles.
Nissan also used virtual reality so that
engineers could troubleshoot issues before moving to the production floor. The
technology helped identify manufacturing concerns before the first steel was
cut, while shaping the design of process equipment through early, virtual
feedback from production technicians.
The Rogue has been in production at Smyrna
Vehicle Assembly plant since 2013. The facility employs 7,000 people and is
responsible for more than 14 million vehicles since opening in 1983, with the
Rogue accounting for nearly 1.1 million. The plant currently builds six models:
Rogue, Altima, Leaf, Maxima, Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60.
The new Rogue is the first of six new
Nissan models for the U.S. that will be offered by the end of 2021. The model
will arrive at dealers across the U.S. this fall.