Nissan Motor Co. has dispatched about 200 engineers from Japan to address quality problems at Nissan's new assembly plant in Canton, Miss.

The engineers also are examining Nissan's car factory in Smyrna, Tenn., a component engineering center in Farmington Hills, Mich., and an unspecified number of supplier plants.

The move comes just weeks after Nissan's dismal showing in the 2004 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study of consumer perceptions of product quality. The first three nameplates launched at Canton - the Quest minivan, Titan full-sized pickup and Pathfinder Armada SUV - each scored last in their segments.

CEO Carlos Ghosn last week addressed Canton's quality issues during the Nissan shareholders' meeting in Tokyo.

"You can't expect a new plant to start to give the same level of efficiency as other plants which are 25 years old," he told shareholders.

According to the J.D. Power study, complaints about vehicles built in Canton ranged from wind noise, loose molding and brake pedal vibration to paint chips and blemishes.

The $1.4 billion Canton plant is only a year old. It was built in just two years. The assembly plant produces four all-new models using a new work force, a new U.S. engine operation and new suppliers.

Despite the quality problems, Nissan's U.S. sales are healthy. For the first five months of 2004, combined U.S. Nissan and Infiniti sales were up 28.2 percent.

But Kunihiko Shiohara, analyst at Goldman Sachs (Japan) Ltd., is alarmed. "Nissan tapped into new segments quickly," he says. "So it seems like Nissan gave quality a second priority."

Nissan is planning to join the hybrid race, but drivers will have to wait at least a year for its first entry: a version of the midsize Altima, shown here as a prototype.

Due at dealerships at an unspecified date in 2006, the Altima hybrid will be sold as an '07 model. It'll be powered by a Nissan four-cylinder gasoline engine fitted with hybrid components sourced from Toyota, maker of the highly sought-after Prius hybrid, under an agreement between the two .automakers signed two years ago.

Nissan is promising a cleaner exhaust and the performance of a V-6 engine from the hybrid setup but isn't yet making any specific fuel-economy claims.

It'll be powered by a Nissan four-cylinder gasoline engine fitted with hybrid components sourced from Toyota, maker of the highly sought-after Prius hybrid, under an agreement between the two automakers signed two years ago.

Nissan Motor Co. has developed technology that applies a vehicle's brakes automatically to keep it from drifting out of its lane. The device helps sleepy drivers, for example, avoid an accident.

Nissan also has created a system of cameras and a video monitor that help drivers park.

The devices were unveiled at a press event here last week.

In the Lane Departure Prevention system, a camera installed behind the windshield detects lane markers in front of the car. The system sends the driver a visual and audible warning when the car approaches within a few inches of the markers. The brakes are applied automatically on one side to help keep the car in its lane.

The device is deactivated when the driver uses the turn signal.

"We're looking at the use of this system in America ahead of other markets," says Yasuhiro Shiraishi, Nissan's senior manager of advanced vehicle engineering promotion group.

Shiraishi says 50 percent of U.S. traffic fatalities and serious injuries are caused by vehicles that veer out of lanes, compared with 30 percent in Japan.

Nissan plans to offer the safety device in some models, probably Infiniti vehicles, within three years. It most likely will be offered as an option.

The Infiniti M and FX series use a similar warning system, but it lacks a braking device to help keep a car in its lane.

Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. offer a similar system. Honda's version is used in the Inspire and Accord in Japan. The Toyota device is available in the Japan-only Crown Majesta.

Meanwhile, Nissan's Around View Monitor uses four cameras mounted on the vehicle that create a top view of the car. The image is displayed on an interior monitor to help park the car.

Nissan is looking at using the system for global markets within five years. This could be more helpful in Japan, where streets and parking spaces are narrower than in the United States.

Nissan plans to offer the safety device in some models, probably Infiniti vehicles, within three years. It most likely will be offered as an option.

The Infiniti M and FX series use a similar warning system, but it lacks a braking device to help keep a car in its lane.

Isn't it supposed to work the other way? Over the last couple decades, several dozen automakers have set up designs facilities in California, in order to get closer to that trend-setting market. But Nissan is formally dedicating a $15 million expansion of its styling center in Detroit , and could soon bring fifteen more designers onto its payroll. The center is adjacent to Nissan's Farmington Hills engineering center, a distinct advantage in efforts to speed cars from concept to production, but it also allows the automaker to get a better feel of what's going on in heartland America, explained Bruce Campbell, Vice President of Nissan Design America. The project tripled the size of the styling unit, to 50,000 square feet, and included some state-of-the-art equipment, including a huge clay milling machine. "For a designer, this is like waking up on Christmas morning and finding everything you asked for," said Campbell. Nissan is not alone. Other imports, including Toyota and Hyundai, have decided to tap into Michigan's design and engineering talent, setting up large research and design facilities outside Detroit.

Nissan’s sub-Sentra model due in mid-2006 will be based on the next Japan-market Cube and the Nissan Sport Concept shown at New York, but won’t actually be either of those when it debuts at the Detroit show in January. Nissan vice president Jed Connelly says we can expect three new Nissans in the next 12 to 18 months: a new Sentra, the aforementioned entry-level sedan and a substantially updated Altima. We also get an Altima hybrid.