Dewey Metts took one look at the new Nissan Murada and fell in love. The Natchez man admitted as much, relating the day he saw the model for the first time in a restaurant parking lot in Jackson.

&uot;I said, ‘by George, I want one of those,’&uot; Metts said. &uot;I’m 82. And this is the first car I ever loved.&uot;

That kind of reaction is not unusual, said Kenny Jackson, general manager at Great River Nissan in Natchez.

Although Metts’ interest in the Murada was not prompted by all the publicity surrounding the opening of Mississippi’s new Nissan plant, many others have come to look for exactly that reason, Jackson said.

&uot;The announcement about the plant opening in Mississippi and all the talk about it has made a difference,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;We’ve had Nissan since 1990. Our sales, estimating conservatively, have increased about 30 percent in the last year.&uot;

With the plant several hours away from Natchez but nonetheless soon to have more than 5,000 people hired to make five different Nissan vehicles, people in many cities hours away from Canton have wondered how and whether the new plant will have a trickle-down effect among their own residents.

One way may be through dealerships such as Great River, which already had made the move to separate Nissan from its other lines.

&uot;That automatically gave Nissan more notoriety locally, distinguished it from the GM lines we sell, for instance,&uot; Jackson said.

Indeed, Great River Nissan has its own new service staff. Nissan has its own finance company and offers special interest rates and rebates like those available from most major lines.

Keith Dunlap, sales representative of Great River Nissan in Natchez, remembers well the day Metts came to buy his Murada. And since then, he has heard stories about how the new vehicle attracted attention.

&uot;He told me people would follow him, stop him when he parked and ask him what kind of car he was driving,&uot; Dunlap said.

That is another reason Nissan is in the news, he said &045; bold, new designs.

Dunlap will attend a workshop in Dallas later in June, where he will learn more about Nissan’s new full-size truck, the Titan. &uot;The Titan will be a first for Nissan,&uot; Dunlap said.

Late in 2002, customers began to see examples of the redesigned Altima, already a big hit, Jackson said. &uot;The Altima is number one here and across the country for Nissan. It’s about 40 percent of their business,&uot; he said.

The 2004 Maxima already has been released. Excitement is mounting as time nears for the debut of the new Armada, a vehicle similar in size to the General Motors Yukon.

&uot;Nissan is coming out with so many new products, and it seems they are all going to be big,&uot; Jackson said. &uot;They have figured out what appeals to people &045; style and quality.&uot;

Metts, who was an Air Force pilot earlier in his life and then spent most of his career as an oral surgeon, particularly likes the room he has in the Murada.

So it was not only the eye-catching style?

The 6-foot-2-inch Metts said he finally has a car in which he can sit up straight and from which he can exit easily.

&uot;I’ve sat in B29’s and C47’s,&uot; he said, naming a couple of the airplanes he flew in the Air Force. &uot;And even those were not as comfortable.&uot;

That kind of praise &045; plus all the vibrations radiating all over the state from the new Central Mississippi plant &045; keeps Jackson smiling.

&uot;This is not a new dealership, but there’s a new feeling around here,&uot; Jackson said.