“First step is adding capacity in the existing operation. We still have some room to expand,” Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa said Monday during an interview in Cordoba, Argentina. “Second step is we may add another new plant” that would have the capacity to build 300,000 to 500,000 vehicles.

China is poised to overtake the US to become Nissan’s biggest market this year, and the Japanese carmaker trails only Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co in the country. Nissan officials said in February that the second-largest Japanese automaker planned to spend US$9 billion (1 trillion yen) over five years to become the largest global electrified vehicle maker in China.

Dongfeng Motor Group, Nissan’s partner in China, will invest US$146 million (1 billion yuan) to turn an existing facility in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, into a production site for Nissan with an annual capacity of 120,000 units, the Chinese carmaker said last month. The plant will give Nissan a foothold in eastern China, complementing the carmaker’s facilities in the northern, southern and central parts of the country.

Saikawa was in Cordoba, 400 miles (644 kilometres) northwest of Buenos Aires, for the opening of a plant to build Nissan Frontier pickups. The investment of about US$600 million will include hiring about 1,000 direct workers and creating 2,000 indirect jobs.

Nissan may need another factory in the US, where it’s trying to cut its dependence on incentives and discounted deliveries to rental fleets, Saikawa said. The company is willing to discuss building one with alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp, though nothing has been discussed yet, he said, and the need isn’t urgent.

“We don’t need capacity in 2019,” Saikawa said. “But for 2020 to 2022 we may be getting to the position that we may need to seek capacity for the US market.”

Nissan shares added 0.5% as of 11.30am in Tokyo. The stock had lost about 6% this year through Monday.