Lance T
11-09-2006, 01:15 PM
Joining Forces: Suzuki May Rebadge Nissan Frontier in U.S. Under Model-Sharing Plan
Date posted: 06-02-2006
TOKYO — Nissan and Suzuki say they are ramping up their mutual collaboration, getting ready to supply each other with new cars in Japan, the U.S., Europe and India, starting at the end of this year.
One of the swaps will let Suzuki sell a compact pickup truck, possibly a Suzuki-badged Nissan Frontier, in the U.S. for the first time.
It's a dramatic scaling up of the current OEM arrangement in which Suzuki supplies its MR Wagon 660-cc minicar for Nissan to sell in Japan and Nissan supplies automatic transmissions to Suzuki.
As announced in a Tokyo press conference today (6/2/06), Nissan will supply a minivan to Suzuki on an OEM basis, starting at the end of 2006. Suzuki will respond by supplying a new 660cc vehicle to Nissan. Both will be sold only in the Japan market.
Next, Suzuki will supply a new A-segment supermini to Nissan for sale mainly in Europe, starting in 2008. Around the same time, Nissan will supply a compact pickup truck, which may be the Frontier, to Suzuki on a similar OEM basis, giving Suzuki an entrée into America's huge pickup market for the first time.
The two sides also announced that they will begin collaboration in emerging markets, sharing manufacturing plants. This will kick off at Suzuki's plant in India.
Suzuki is Japan's hugely efficient small-car champion. Ever since General Motors offloaded nearly all its Suzuki shares earlier this year, industry watchers have been wondering what Suzuki would do next and which major manufacturer it would now want to collaborate with. Today's announcement seems to answer that question pretty succinctly: The answer is Nissan.
What this means to you: Swapping more models looks like a smart deal for both Nissan and Suzuki, as global competition heats up.
I guess this is old news but I hadn't seen it before.
Date posted: 06-02-2006
TOKYO — Nissan and Suzuki say they are ramping up their mutual collaboration, getting ready to supply each other with new cars in Japan, the U.S., Europe and India, starting at the end of this year.
One of the swaps will let Suzuki sell a compact pickup truck, possibly a Suzuki-badged Nissan Frontier, in the U.S. for the first time.
It's a dramatic scaling up of the current OEM arrangement in which Suzuki supplies its MR Wagon 660-cc minicar for Nissan to sell in Japan and Nissan supplies automatic transmissions to Suzuki.
As announced in a Tokyo press conference today (6/2/06), Nissan will supply a minivan to Suzuki on an OEM basis, starting at the end of 2006. Suzuki will respond by supplying a new 660cc vehicle to Nissan. Both will be sold only in the Japan market.
Next, Suzuki will supply a new A-segment supermini to Nissan for sale mainly in Europe, starting in 2008. Around the same time, Nissan will supply a compact pickup truck, which may be the Frontier, to Suzuki on a similar OEM basis, giving Suzuki an entrée into America's huge pickup market for the first time.
The two sides also announced that they will begin collaboration in emerging markets, sharing manufacturing plants. This will kick off at Suzuki's plant in India.
Suzuki is Japan's hugely efficient small-car champion. Ever since General Motors offloaded nearly all its Suzuki shares earlier this year, industry watchers have been wondering what Suzuki would do next and which major manufacturer it would now want to collaborate with. Today's announcement seems to answer that question pretty succinctly: The answer is Nissan.
What this means to you: Swapping more models looks like a smart deal for both Nissan and Suzuki, as global competition heats up.
I guess this is old news but I hadn't seen it before.