Titan never hurt domestic pickup truck sales.
Chrysler and Nissan have decided to part ways, scrapping three joint-vehicle programs originally intended to fill yawning gaps in their respective line-ups.
“For the past several months, teams from both companies have been studying the viability of the projects in light of significant changes in business conditions since the projects were announced in January and April of 2008,” Chrysler said in a brief statement. “Today, it was decided it was in the best interests of both companies to end the projects,” it added.
With Nissan officials recently telling TheDetroitBureau.com they were still open to working with their Detroit counterpart, it appears that the announcement was heavily influenced by Chrysler’s new parent, the Italian automaker Fiat. It also appears Nissan is the loser in the latest developments.
Chrysler has already been selling a version of the Nissan Versa through some of its Latin American retail outlets. And it was originally expected to add another Nissan-based small car to its line-up, next year, in a bid to expand its global presence. Chrysler’s need for both small vehicles was eliminated by its merger with Fiat, which also sells a full-line of small cars around the world.
For the Japanese maker’s product portfolio, its erstwhile collaborator was expected to provide a rebadged and redesigned version of the Dodge Ram pickup truck as a replacement for the slow-selling, loss making Nissan Titan. The Chrysler-based pickup was to reach Nissan showrooms, in the U.S., by 2011. Now Nissan dealers won’t have a pickup truck to sell.
That particular joint venture appeared to run into snags, according to Nissan’s truck chief, Larry Dominique, about the time it became clear that Chrysler would fall under the control of Fiat, post-bankruptcy. Indeed, he suggested, during an interview with TheDetroitBureau.com, early this month, that Nissan couldn’t get any clear answer as to Chrysler’s plans – no surprise, suggested other sources, considering the turmoil at the troubled American automaker.
Actually it looks like the vehicle-sharing project was put on hold almost as soon as it started after Renault/Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn expressed reservations about the plan when Chrysler began to run into serious financial problems last fall. Chrysler’s financial difficulties wound up with the company filing for bankruptcy on April 30. After Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in June, Fiat gained effective management control of the U.S. car maker and has been pressing ahead with a complete overhaul of its operations.
The Titan has never come close to meeting the high expectations of the Japanese maker, which launched production of the vehicle, nearly six years ago, at an all-new plant, in Canton, Mississippi. In recent months, sales have fallen to barely 100 pickups a month, a key reason why Nissan had hoped to pull Titan out of Canton and rely on an alternate sourcing strategy.
Nonetheless, a source stressed that, despite the collapse of the Chrysler deal, Nissan remains “committed to staying in the light truck vehicle market.” Where in the heck they are going to get them is a mystery. GM or Ford would be crazy to supply a Japanese competitor.
So Nissan is now in a bind, as the planned launch of the Ram-based Titan was just 18 months from now. In automotive terms, that’s barely the blink of an eye.
During his earlier interview, Dominique said that the number of alternatives available to Nissan has “grown exponentially” since the Chrysler deal was first negotiated. And Nissan spokesman Fred Standish tells TDB “We’re continuing to look at (those) options.”
Developing an all-new vehicle, especially a commercial-grade truck, is daunting and even just updating the existing Titan would take several years. It is possible, perhaps likely, that the Japanese maker will continue building the old truck a bit longer, but that could complicate current plans for the Canton factory.
As for the Nissan-based small cars, Chrysler isn’t discussing what alternatives it has in mind – though observers believe the maker isn’t walking away from those segments, especially not as it targets faster growth in Latin America and other overseas markets.
Most likely, the maker will turn to new ally Fiat. Indeed, Chrysler officials recently indicated they hope to sell a version of the Italian maker’s Cinquecento, or 500, mini-car in the States. A key to the success of the “new” Chrysler will be to share the design and engineering resources of Fiat, it has said, and to leverage economies of scale by using Fiat products, platforms and components.
A separate agreement calling on Nissan and Chrysler to share transmission remains unchanged. That agreement has been in effect since 2004.
Joe Szczesny contributed to this story.