Sentra Drops Keiretsu Tradition

The Renault SA-Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. platform policy has helped two French-based module makers win business from Nissan's traditional sources on the '06 Sentra sedan for North America and Serena minivan in Japan.

According to a Japanese newspaper, contracts to Visteon Corp. for a cockpit module and Valeo SA for a front-end module represent the first time Nissan will have outsourced modules and assembly work to companies outside its traditional keiretsu.