Nissan to get lift from M-B pickup - Automotive News (subscription) (blog)
NASHVILLE -- Mercedes-Benz's plan to sell pickups in world markets will help Nissan improve its Latin American market share, Nissan's regional chief says. Thanks to Mercedes' need for locally built pickups, Nissan can justify investing $600 million to create its first Argentine assembly line -- an operation that will support Nissan sales around South America, says Jose Luis Valls, Nissan Latin... Nissan will build the assembly line at a factory owned by its alliance partner, Renault SA, and will produce a version of the midsize Frontier pickup for itself, Mercedes and Renault -- with each receiving a unique design. "Latin America is very big on pickups, and particularly one-ton pickups. Nissan will be able to step up marketing in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and other Latin American markets, Valls says. But increasing Nissan's penetration in some markets will be tough. In other Latin American countries, tariffs and import limits have played havoc with automakers' efforts to import vehicles built in Mexico. "This new factory investment is a key part of our Latin American strategy," Valls says. Valls aims to contribute to Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn's goal of an 8 percent global market share by March 2017. Valls expects to boost Nissan to a 7 percent Latin American market share this year, up from 5. 6 percent last year. Source: www.autonews.com
