Nissan Entering Diesel LCV Business in North America

7 April 2008

Nissan North America, Inc. will enter the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) business in North America. The company plans to introduce three light commercial vehicles in three years.

The first of these three products will be launched in the first half of 2010. In the midterm, Nissan will expand its LCV business in North America, resulting in the creation of a multi-segment product range of vehicles below 8-ton gross vehicle weight (GVW).

Key to this new strategy is the Nissan plant in Canton, Miss., which will become the manufacturing center for a range of new LCV products aimed at the North American commercial vehicle market.

In order to accommodate the capacity necessary to manufacture LCVs, Nissan 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.

Nissan has partnered with Cummins Inc. for the development and supply of two diesel engines, which will meet 2010 EPA and CARB emissions standards. The engines will be tailored specifically for Nissan. Nissan also has partnered with ZF Friedrichshafen AG for the development and supply of an automatic transmission.