SYDNEY: Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler have agreed to extend their partnership to develop a pickup truck for Mercedes-Benz, which recently forayed into the segment.
The Mercedes-Benz 1-ton pickup truck is said to share certain features with Nissan NP300 truck as well as incorporate Mercedes Benz’ characteristics and features.
Featuring a double cab, the pickup truck will serve personal-use and commercial customers in Europe, Australia, South Africa and Latin America.
Daimler board of management chairman and Mercedes-Benz Cars head Dieter Zetsche said: “Entering the rapidly growing segment of midsize pickups is an important step in continuing our global growth path.
“Thanks to our well-established partnership with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, we are able to drastically reduce the time and cost to enter this key segment.”
Daimler will engineer and design the truck, while Nissan-Renault Alliance will invest $600m at Renault´s industrial complex in Córdoba, Argentina to produce Nissan NP300, Renault 1-ton truck and Mercedes-Benz 1-ton pickup truck for Latin American markets.
Nissan’s facility in Barcelona, Spain will produce all the three trucks for other markets, excluding North America.
Renault-Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “Thanks to our cooperation with Daimler on this project, we will be able to share the cost of investment at the Cordoba plant, while at the same time open up new markets in the Latin American region for the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
“This project will also allow us to optimize production capacity at the Barcelona plant and enhance our competitiveness in an important segment.”
Planned to start production of the trucks by the end of the decade, the Argentina and Spain facilities are expected to produce 70,000 vehicles and 120,000 vehicles a year.
Launched in June 2014, Nissan NP300 is available under NP300 Navara and NP300 Frontier names, and is currently produced in Thailand and Mexico.
Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler formed strategic partnership in April 2010 with three projects primarily focused on Europe. The combined portfolio now includes 13 projects covering Europe, Asia and the Americas.
