CANTON — Nissan will start making the Sentra sedan in December at its plant in Canton, company officials said Thursday.

The Japanese automaker will hire another 1,000 workers at the plant north of Jackson, bringing its worker total to nearly 5,000.

The Sentra will be the seventh model produced at the plant, along with the Altima sedan, the Frontier and Titan pickups, the Xterra and Armada SUVs and the NV van. The Canton plant opened in 2003

“Canton remains very important to Nissan in the Americas and Nissan globally,” said Bill Krueger, vice chairman of Nissan Americas.

He said that after the expansion, the Canton plant will have the capacity to make 450,000 vehicles a year.

Nissan will invest $20 million in addition to hiring the workers. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said the state will provide $7.5 million in cash to pay for worker training and infrastructure.

“Nissan’s trust in Mississippi’s workforce is evident, and I am proud that this company is creating 1,000 additional jobs for hard-working Mississippians,” Republican Bryant said in a statement.

Nissan also makes the Sentra in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and Krueger said production would continue there. He said the company’s goal is to be able to change its mix of production based on market demand.

“We’ve really got a luxury of having competitive plants across the region,” Krueger said.

Nissan is the No. 6 automaker in the United States, with an 8.1 percent share of the market so far in 2012.