DECHERD, Tenn. –

Nissan North America announced this week they have broken ground on a new manufacturing facility in Tennessee that will bring an estimated 400 jobs to the state.

The facility, which is located at the existing Nissan powertrain assembly complex in Decherd, will produce Mercedes-Benz 4-cyl. gasoline engines for Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models.

And senior vice president of research & development at Nissan Americas Carla Bailo and VP production engineering and component facilities Mark Swenson joined local officials to mark the start of construction on this significant project.

"Today, we begin an exciting new chapter for the Renault-Nissan Alliance (a strategic partnership between Renault, based in Paris, and Nissan) and our continued investment in the United States," Swenson said. "Today’s groundbreaking marks the latest move in our collaboration with Daimler to localize production capacity and enhance our competitiveness in the global market."

And when will the new facility be up and running?

The OEM noted that production of the new engines will begin in 2014 with installed capacity of 250,000 units per year and will be the first location Mercedes-Benz manufactures engines in the North America Free Trade region.

“The Tennessee plant’s strategic location will ensure a direct supply of engines for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, to be built at Daimler’s vehicle plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (as of 2014),” officials concluded.