Nissan may have cars for Europe built in France by its alliance partner Renault.
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Automotive News Europe said the first move of this type could be producing the replacement for the current Nissan Primera – currently made in Sunderland, England – at Sandouville, France, alongside the Renault Laguna starting in late 2007 or early 2008.
“If we decide to build the next Primera generation in Sandouville sharing its platform with the Renault Laguna, we can save €100 million in development and production,” said Nissan executive vice president Patrick Pelata at the Detroit motor show.
Nissan officials insist no decision has been made, but PwC/AutoFacts market analyst Calum MacRae said: “Economically, that would make sense.”
The two companies would have to finalise any manufacturing agreement at least 18 months before the start of production to source the necessary tooling in time.
The development would be a logical extension of the platform and component sharing embarked on by the two groups after the formation of their alliance in 1999. Renault owns 44% of Nissan.
Common manufacturing would deepen the alliance considerably. Industrial collaboration is currently limited to one partner assembling existing models for the other [e.g. the Nissan-badged versions of a Spanish-built van line jointly developed by Renault and GM Europe, and Nissan Mexico’s assembly of some Renault models for local sale].
As the centre of production for Laguna, Espace and Vel Satis, Sandouville already has considerable flexibility. All three have common chassis and drivelines. Sandouville also has the capacity to build an additional 50,000 or so Nissans.
Sunderland’s role appears to be evolving as a producer of smaller models. It currently makes the Nissan Micra, Micra C+C, Almera and Primera. Nissan recently confirmed that the Micra/Clio-based Tone minivan will be added in January 2006.
