NT500 Marks Nissan Spain’s Return to Truck Making

AVILA, Spain – Nissan launches production of its new lineup of NT500 light trucks at its sole European truck-assembly site in this city about 75 miles (120 km) northwest of Madrid.

The new products range from 3.5 to 7.5 t, overlapping mainly with North American classes 2-4, and replace the Atleon brand that has been out of production since July. The name NT500 corresponds to Nissan’s new nomenclature: NV for vans, NT for trucks.

As a consequence, the Cabstar, a range of light trucks up to 3.5 t also assembled in Avila, changes its badging to NT400.

The new lineup has required a €100 million ($138 million) investment for development and installation of the assembly line, and coordination with suppliers. This will assure the continuity of the 500 jobs at the Avila site, which has manufactured 350,000 vehicles since 1998.

Along with its competitors, Nissan Spain trucks have seen sales contract sharply during the ongoing economic crisis, forcing intermittent layoffs at the facility.

Though the plant’s maximum daily capacity is 90 units in a single shift, domestic truck demand continues to be soft and current output is 60 per shift. However, 90% of Avila production is exported to other European markets, where truck demand is awakening.

“For 2014, we expect to assemble about 9,000 units of the NT400 and Maxity (a twin of the NT400 being built in Avila for Renault Trucks) and between 2,500 units of the new NT500,” Plant Manager Alvaro Vidal says.

Current plans call for most NT500 production to be marketed by Renault Trucks as its new D-range, or distribution range. (The Avila plant is held by the Renault-Nissan Alliance and never belonged to the former Nissan Diesel.)

The NT500 will be offered in four GVW levels – 3.5, 5.6, 6.5 and 7.5 t – allowing it to be driven with a driver's car license in many European Union countries. That is why the NT500 series does not reach the 8 t the previous Atleon range reached.

The NT500 7.5-t model is powered by a Nissan engine making 177 hp and 398 lb.-ft. (540 Nm) of torque. The rest of the NT500s run on a 150-hp mill generating 258 lb.-ft. (350 Nm) of torque, also from Nissan. All of the engines are compliant with Euro 6 emissions rules.

A 6-speed manual transmission is offered for all the NT500 models, but the 7.5-t version has an optional 6-speed robotized gearbox.

The brake system is hydraulic, except in the case of the 7.5-t model’s, which is pneumatic. Periodic maintenance has been extended to 25,000 miles (40,000 km), compared with 15,000 miles (24,000 km) for the Atleon, and is warranted up to three years, compared with two for the Atleon).

The cabin of the NT500 has rounded exterior lines, in contrast to the sharp edges that have dominated truck-cab design in recent years.

Marta Maribon, head of NT500 product marketing-Nissan Spain, denies the possible cannibalization of the 3.5-t NT500 by the smaller NT400 also weighing 3.5 t.

The 6.5-t NT500, meanwhile, is Nissan Spain’s first entry in that truck segment. “It is an attempt to get a portion of a market that in this moment is controlled by the bigger versions of the Iveco Daily range,” Maribon says.