Nissan considering move of North American headquarters

Jed Connelly, senior vice president of sales and marketing and a member of Nissan North America’s management committee, told The Tennessean on Wednesday that he and other top U.S. executives discussed as recently as this week a possible move to the Nashville area from its current location in Gardena, Calif.

“We discussed it,” Connelly told the newspaper during an event in Farmington Hills, Mich., to introduce Nissan’s new subcompact car, the Versa. “We’re going to discuss it further the next time we get together. But no decision as of yet.”

Citing unnamed sources, The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the Japanese automaker is considering moving near where it already has operations in order to save money.

Nissan employs 6,500 at its U.S. manufacturing headquarters near Nashville in Smyrna and about 1,300 at an engine plant in Decherd.

About 800 people work for Nissan in Texas in a call center, for Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. and in regional offices.

The company’s Los Angeles-area headquarters has about 1,300 employees in management, marketing, advertising, sales and distribution and dealership development.

Even with Connelly confirming that the company is looking at Nashville, state officials wouldn’t comment.

“It doesn’t change our position,” said Mark Drury, chief spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

An automotive consultant familiar with Nissan’s operations said that talk of a possible move has caused a flurry of job hunting among top staff members who don’t want to leave Southern California.

“There are lots of active dossiers on the market,”said Eric Noble, president of The CarLab, an Orange, Calif., auto industry consulting firm.