Chrysler and Nissan Cancel Plans for North American Small Car
While Chrysler and Nissan will continue to work together on one project, the companies have said that they have put on hold any plans to build a small car for the North American market – essentially killing any hope that we might get a vehicle based on the Dodge Hornet concept.
Plans to launch a Chrysler version of the Nissan Versa will go ahead, but the car, which would use Nissan underpinnings and a Chrysler designed body, is only slated to be sold in South America.
The two companies have also shelved plans to work together to build the next generation Nissan Titan pickup truck, based on the Dodge Ram.
With Nissan’s recent announcement of a $2.9 billion operating loss and Chrysler facing a deadline to submit a plan to the U.S. government to secure it’s bailout loans, both companies have been forced to put any future projects and non-essential projects on hold.
“Because of current economic conditions, Nissan and Chrysler teams working on the two other projects have been asked to ensure that financial objectives for both companies can be met before these two projects move forward,” said a statement distributed by Nissan North America Inc.
Chrysler won’t comment on whether the parting of ways has anything to do with their new partnership with Fiat, but one can only assume that is part of the equation. After all, Chrysler does plan to build new small vehicle on existing Fiat platforms, and with the rising value of the Yen, working with Japanese automakers is becoming less and less attractive.
[Source: AutoNews]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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