Nissan enters N.A. light commercial vehicle business

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http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080407/ANA02/148936767/1128

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Nissan North America Inc. today said it will enter the light commercial-vehicle segment with three new vehicles made in the U.S.

The first of the three all-new trucks -- designed specifically for North America -- is expected to be launched in the first half of 2010, Nissan said.

Nissan's plant in Canton, Miss., will be the hub for the commercial vehicles in North America. The automaker named former Ford Motor Co. executive Joe Castelli to be vice president of light commercial vehicle and fleet.

Nissan announced the initiative at an afternoon press conference here.

Nissan said it is planning to invest $118 million in the Canton plant to handle the work.

Dealers will be selected from Nissan's existing network to supply sales and servicing of the new vehicles, the company said.

" Globally, the light commercial-vehicle business is now a substantial part of Nissan's sales and profitability, representing a significant part of Nissan total vehicle sales," Andy Palmer, head of Nissan's global light commercial-vehicle business, said in a statement.

" We already have major operations in Japan, China and Europe, and so it is natural that we are now ready to expand our business in North America."

Nissan also said it signed partnerships with Cummins Inc. for the vehicles' diesel engines and ZF Friedrichshafen AG for the transmissions. Two different Cummins diesel engines -- tailored specifically for Nissan's new vehicles -- will be produced in the U.S., Nissan said.

To make room for the new business, Nissan said it will not produce the next-generation Nissan Quest minivan and Infiniti QX56 luxury SUV at Canton. "Further details of the production shift will be announced at a later time," the company said in a statement.

Nissan said it sells light commercial vehicles in 73 percent of the world's markets, including Japan, China, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East. Last month Nissan announced the production of a new light commercial pickup truck at its plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

[jimmil]

1. Well at least it is good news

For the people in Canton, Mississippi. Right now I am thrilled with people in the US getting any jobs. Of course, I hope GM and Ford can fight the competition off because I must admit, I am a union supporter and the Nissan plant in Canton is not union as none of the Japanese plants located in the US are.