Nissan Partners With Competitors to Maintain Growth

NEW YORK – Working to become the industry leader in zero-emissions vehicles hasn't shifted Nissan’s focus away from conventionally powered vehicles, says Andy Palmer, executive vice president-product planning.

Some new models will result from collaborations with other auto makers. For instance, Nissan is readying the debut of an all-new micro-car to be built in a joint venture with Mitsubishi at Mitsubishi’s Mizushima, Japan, plant.

Mitsubishi will offer the new kei model (the Japanese term for micro-cars in this segment) as its new-generation i-car. It has a 0.66L engine and will launch simultaneously with the still-unnamed Nissan version.

The current Mitsubishi i-car is longer than the Smart car and shorter than the Honda Fit. The new model will achieve 58.8 mpg (4.0 L/100 km), but it will be sold only in Japan and other Asian markets, Palmer says. On-sale date is yet to be announced.

Palmer says Japan’s No.2 auto maker is giving high priority to creating new models for developing major markets including Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as upcoming markets such as Indonesia.

Nissan won't neglect the the big-truck market, despite its focus on high mileage and zero emission models, Palmer insists. He says the auto maker is developing the next-generation Titan fullsize pickup truck for introduction in late 2014.

Palmer says his last Nissan assignment before assuming his present post was heading up the Titan project, so he guarantees we'll see the new one as scheduled.

Besides Mitsubishi, Nissan is partnering with Daimler on several fronts.

The auto maker will build direct-injection turbocharged 4-cyl. engines for Mercedes-Benz at its Decherd, TN, plant. The engines will power Mercedes, Renault and Nissan vehicles scheduled to debut in 2016.

Nissan earlier this year began expanding the Decherd plant, where it will build the new engines for its Infiniti luxury brand and for Mercedes C-Class models built in Vance, AL, starting in 2014. When the expansion is fully ramped up, total production at the Decherd plant could exceed 750,000 units annually.

Palmer says Nissan has no plans to cross-brand models or share platforms with Mercedes, but there could be some sharing of front-drive architecture with the German auto maker. A possibility is the C-segment Infiniti model launching in 2016. That model will compete against the Audi A3, among others.

Also, Nissan and Daimler jointly announced at the Paris Auto Show that Nissan subsidiary Jatco will build Daimler-licensed automatic transmissions for Nissan and Infiniti models at its Aguascalientes, Mexico, plant. The gearboxes will feature start/stop and shift-by-wire technology.