Nissan Motor Co. will boost its production capacity in China from next year as the world's largest auto market is showing signs of recovery from the novel coronavirus pandemic, a company official said Tuesday.

Nissan plans to manufacture more cars at two plants of Chinese joint venture Dongfeng Motor Corp., located in Wuhan in Hubei Province and Changzhou in Jiangsu Province, according to the official.

In addition to increasing its production bases in China to six from the current four, Nissan aims to strengthen its sales strategy by introducing new models.

In 2021, the Japanese automaker will start selling its Ariya electric sport utility vehicle equipped with self-driving assistance technology that enables hands-off driving while cruising on highways.

The automaker will introduce a total of nine models by 2025 in the Chinese market, the official said.

Nissan, which been under pressure to turn around its business, is expecting to log a net loss of 670 billion yen ($6.4 billion) in the current business year through March.

Nissan said in its medium-term business plan released in May that it will focus its resources on the Japanese, Chinese and U.S. markets.

The third-largest automaker in Japan by volume plans to scale down operations in Europe and Southeast Asia, with plans to shut factories in Spain and Indonesia.

==Kyodo

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