Nissan North America (NNA) is to begin light commercial vehicle (LCV) manufacture following a significant business investment.
The company is to spend $118 million in expanding its Canton, Mississippi, production facility to enable it to manufacture the LCVs, with extra investment to be made available for the tooling and development of the vehicles.
Under the leadership of Joe Castelli – vice president for commercial vehicle and fleet, NNA – the firm will introduce three LCV models over three years, with the first of these to be launched in 2010.
“Globally, the LCV business is now a substantial part of Nissan’s sales and profitability, representing a significant part of Nissan total vehicle sales,” said Andy Palmer, corporate vice president and head of the LCV global business unit for Nissan Motor Co. “We already have major operations in Japan, China and Europe and so it is natural that we are now ready to expand our business in North America.”
