Nissan has some very BIG plans for Russia. Specifically, the Japanese automotive giant is planning major industrial expansion there. And in classic Nissan form, the automaker has no intention of being easy on themselves.

On the contrary, Nissan is striving to multiply the manufacturing capacity of their St. Petersburg Plant by two. They're also planning to produce the next-gen Qashqai (not sold in the U.S.) making for a total of five different models produced there. In addition to the Qashqai, this includes the Murano (currently available to CUV drivers in Baton Rouge, LA) and two others not found on our shores: the Nissan Teana and Nissan X-TRAIL.

How much of the Russian auto market does Nissan currently occupy?

Five-point-nine percent. The ultimate goal, however, is to increase that number to 10 percent by 2016. To help support this initiative, capacity at the St. Petersburg Plant will double in fiscal year 2014.

In addition, Nissan is currently exploring ways to capitalize on its strategic partnership with the country as a whole. After resigning a Memorandum of Understanding with Renault and Russian Technologies , the Alliance will likely have the opportunity to double its stake in AvtoVAZ - Russia's largest automaker.

Curious to learn more?

Stay tuned. Royal Nissan of Baton Rouge has our finger on the pulse of this story. And we romise to bring you any and all late-breaking details as they become available.

In the meantime, remember you can always explore our entire new Nissan and used car inventories online.

 [INFO] http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/27/nissan-announces-russian-expansion-needs-image/