Nissan To Produce Commercial Vehicles Stateside
Ford and General Motors have long had a lock hold on the light commercial vehicle segment, those trucks and vans favored by plumbers, contractors, 
and other small businesses. Chevrolet produces the Kodiak and the W-Series and T-Series, while Ford has the E-Series and variations on the F-Series theme for sale.
Nissan has been working diligently to expand their light commercial duty sales and is promising to start building the first of three vehicles vehicles at its Canton, MS plant in 2010. Currently, the Nissan Quest and Infiniti QX56 are built in Canton, but Nissan will be moving production of these larger vehicles elsewhere to begin building its first commercial trucks.
From 2002 to 2007, Nissan has more than tripled the sales of its light commercial vehicles, selling 518,000 units in 2007. Nissan LCVs are sold in 73% of the world’s markets, including Japan, China, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East.
“LCVs will become a major contributor to the future success of Nissan in North America,” said Bill Krueger, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Purchasing & Supply Chain Management and Total Customer Satisfaction, Nissan North America. “It is a tribute to our employees in Canton that it will be the manufacturing hub for these important new products, key to our sustainable growth in the U.S.”
Earlier this year, Ford announced that it would begin importing the Transit Connect from its factory in Turkey, to provide a smaller and more economical option for its commercial customers.
(Source: Nissan Media)
Infiniti Snags Two Awards
Nissan’s luxury division, Infiniti, captured two awards at the recently concluded Los Angeles Auto Show this past week.
Car and Driver magazine announced that the G35 sedan made the publication’s 10 Best For 2007 list while also winning the 2007 All-Star Award from Automobile magazine according to a published report.
The G35 is all new for 2007 with sales for the model up more than 30% over the same time last year.
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Nissan, Infiniti, G35, Los Angeles Auto Show
Nissan Shifting Production Away From USA
Nissan is expected to shift production of two vehicles from one USA plant back to Japan within the next year or two.
The Nissan Quest minivan and Infiniti QX56 SUV are currently built at the company’s Canton, MS factory, but Nissan wants to free up the space to produce more pickup trucks according to a published report. Total plant output is expected to remain the same, but it appears that Nissan wants to concentrate on building and shipping low volume vehicles from Japan instead of producing them in local markets.
Technorati Tags: Nissan, Infiniti, Nissan Quest, Infiniti QX56
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