The organisation says it will increase LCV sales worldwide “by unleashing the full potential of Renault’s van expertise and Nissan’s truck know-how in key markets”. It will keep the two brands separate, however, for marketing and sales purposes.
“The combination of Renault, Nissan and the early collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors in a single alliance LCV business unit will boost sales and deliver greater synergies,” declares Renault-Nissan chairman and chief executive Carlos Ghosn.
“We plan to expand our market leadership by accelerating our performance in current and new high-growth markets, based on each company’s core products and market knowledge, and driven by customer needs.”
The Renault-Nissan LCV business unit will be led by Ashwani Gupta, senior vice president at Renault-Nissan, and he will report to Ghosn.
The new LCV business unit is expected to deliver further synergies in costs and technology, through product development and manufacturing.
Renault and Nissan have established cross-production of vans and trucks over the last several years. For example, the Nissan NV300 van is built on the Renault Trafic platform; the Nissan NV400 van is built on the Renault Master platform; and the Renault Alaskan pick-up is built on the Nissan Navara platform.
The new Renault-Nissan LCV Business Unit will also handle Nissan’s body-on-frame SUVs, including the Nissan Armada and Nissan Patrol.