The Renault-Nissan Alliance has created a business unit focused on light commercial vehicles (LCVs) as it looks to grow sales in the segment.
Ashwani Gupta, vice-president of Renault’s LCV division since 2014, will lead the new unit.
Mitsubishi, which became part of the Alliance following Nissan’s 34% share purchase last year, will also contribute to the LCV unit.
“The combination of Renault, Nissan and the early collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors in a single Alliance LCV Business Unit will boost sales and deliver greater synergies,” said Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Alliance.
There is already an element of cross-production between the companies in this space, with the Nissan NV300 van built on the Renault Trafic platform; the Nissan NV400 van built on the Renault Master platform; and the Renault Alaskan pickup built on the Nissan Navara platform.
The new unit will also handle Nissan’s body-on-frame SUVs, including the Nissan Armada and Nissan Patrol.
Renault (443,931 vehicles), Nissan (815,490) and Mitsubishi (248,000) together sold more than 1.5m LCVs globally in 2016.[mpu_ad align="left"]
