TOKYO (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-biggest automaker, said last Thursday its light commercial vehicle (LCV) unit would create a new engineering division to develop diesel engines for light duty trucks.
This could pave the way for Nissan's Titan pickup to eventually get a diesel engine to compete with diesel versions of Detroit 3 pickups, and the expected diesel-powered Toyota Tundra.
Nissan Motor Light Trucks Co., held 85 percent by Nissan and the rest by Volvo AB unit Nissan Diesel Motor Co., hopes to speed up product development with the 111 engineers in the new division as it aims to join General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. at the top of the global LCV market.
Nissan's LCV business unit expanded sales by 23 percent to 492,000 vehicles in the business year that ended in March and is one of the key pillars of Nissan's growth strategy.
Toyota is expected to lean on Hino, its truck making unit, for a diesel engine for the Tundra. At the recent Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas, Toyota showed a diesel Tundra with an 8.0-liter Hino diesel.
Nissan is currently the only manufacturer of full-sized pickups that has not firmed up its diesel plans.
