Chrysler and Nissan Motor on Friday announced an agreement for Nissan to supply Chrysler with a new car for limited distribution in South America.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Based on the Nissan Versa sedan, the new car will be supplied to Chrysler on an original equipment manufacture (OEM) basis in 2009.
Earlier newspaper reports had said the car would be a 1.8-litre model built in Mexico, from where the US-market Versa (Tiida elsewhere) is sourced.
The OEM supply agreement is the second product exchange between the two corporations, with Nissan affiliate JATCO already supplying Chrysler with transmissions since 2004.
“This kind of tactical partnership allows us to maximise product offerings yet minimise costly investments, such as new plant infrastructure, tooling and R&D,” said Chrysler president Tom LaSorda. “This partnership will give Chrysler nearly immediate access to vehicle segments in which we do not currently compete.”
“Nissan has a successful track-record of win-win product exchanges and we are pleased to be entering into this second agreement with Chrysler,” said Nissan Motor executive vice president Carlos Tavares.
The two companies have also agreed to discuss further product-sharing opportunities.
