2014 Nissan Titan Pro-4x on 2040-cars

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How Renault, Fiat Chrysler, and yes, Nissan, could save through sharing

If French automaker Renault green-lights a proposed merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the companies almost immediately could begin saving money by consolidating components and basic structures on many of their most popular vehicles, an industry analyst said on Tuesday. The synergies could multiply if they invite Japanese automaker Nissan, currently Renault's alliance partner, to join the merger, according to a former Renault and Nissan executive. Renault and Italian-American rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are in talks to tackle the costs of far-reaching technological and regulatory changes by creating the world's third-biggest automaker. A Renault-Fiat Chrysler combination "would mean a greater sharing of parts (which) could really boost the profitability of Fiat Chrysler's smaller vehicles," said Sam Fiorani, vice president, AutoForecast Solutions. Building similar models on a common vehicle architecture, Fiorani said, "would give both companies a lot more freedom in manufacturing. They could mix brands and vehicle sizes on the same assembly line, switch vehicles between plants to balance production, and even shift production from one country to another, depending on changes in demand, tariffs or other considerations." Fiorani said Fiat Chrysler could benefit from sharing the French automaker's expertise in electric vehicles and powertrains, where Renault and Nissan have jointly invested more than $5 billion. These are areas in which Fiat Chrysler has little in the way of components or intellectual property. Another sector that is ripe for consolidation is light commercial vehicles, where Renault and Fiat Chrysler could build a variety of vans in several sizes on common platforms that could be assembled and sold in global markets. Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG began their alliance discussions a year ago by focusing on potential collaboration in light commercial vehicles. Getting Nissan's blessing Fiorani said Renault's CMF architecture, which was jointly developed with Nissan and underpins many of Renault's passenger cars and crossovers, could be used by Fiat Chrysler on a wide variety of vehicles. As an example, he said the CMF could provide a new single foundation for at least five Jeep models, including the Renegade, Compass and Cherokee, which now are based on four different platforms.

Will Nissan's Cummins deal upset Ram's marketing mojo? [w/poll]

Ram has used Cummins engines in its heavy duty trucks since 1989, and it is the only pickup truck brand to use products from the Indiana-based engine maker. With the announcement that the next Nissan Titan will also use a Cummins powerplant, and a Nissan spokesman having already said "We will definitely leverage the Cummins brand name," a piece in Automotive News wonders whether the deal will affect the way Ram markets its tie-up with Cummins.
The question really is, how intense is this competition? While it is the first time that trucks from two different brands have used Cummins engines, they'll be two different engines in two different kinds of trucks; Nissan is going to put a 5.0-liter turbodiesel in a non-heavy-duty Titan, Ram only uses its 6.7-liter, inline six-cylinder turbodiesel in heavy-duty offerings. The diesel that Ram will offer in its light-duty, half-ton 1500 is a 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel with 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque - compared to about 300 hp and 550 lb-ft expected from the Titan's Cummins - and its marketing so far has focused on the fuel economy gains.
If Nissan was going to prove its commitment to the segment, it had to do something compelling. If we're talking about sales competition between Ram and Nissan, Ram has sold 201,633 trucks as of July this year, up 24.2 percent, 31,314 of those sales coming last month; Nissan has sold 10,020 Titans through the end of July, down 21.1 percent, and just 1,168 in July itself. Nissan's new truck boss - who hopped there from Ram - said that buyers have asked for a powerful turbodiesel in something other than a heavy duty pickup, and from what we've read on various comment boards, the pickup truck crowd is excited about Nissan's move.

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf sales show big drops in September

As most readers likely know, it's not just lower gas prices that are affecting plug-in vehicle sales. The two long-time sales leaders in the US - the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt - are getting long in the tooth. First introduced in late 2010, the vehicles have been updated here and there since then, but recent sales figures have been lagging behind where they were in 2014. This trend continued in September, with sales of both vehicles down in a big way compared to last year. Sales of Nissan Leaf totaled 1,247 for the month of September. This is down a whopping 56.7 percent from September 2014, but thankfully the year-to-date sales are not quite as negative. So far this year, Nissan has sold 13,630 Leafs, which is "just" 37.5 percent lower tan the YTD total at this point in 2014 (21,822). This decrease swims against the overall direction of Nissan's September sales, which were up 18 percent over last year and set a new September record. The Volt sold 949 units last month, down 31.9 percent from last September. Year to date, the Volt has sold 9,264 units, which is 36.3 percent lower than the number of Volts that were sold in the first nine months of 2014 (14,540). This downward trend might be coming to an end soon. The new Chevy Volt will go on sale in 11 US states later this fall, and the 2017 model will be available nationwide next spring. An updated Leaf for the 2016 model year also offers more miles – 107, vs 84 in the 2015 version – so potential customers who have been waiting for the latest and greatest will soon not have any excuses. We'll have our broader look at green car sales in the US up soon. Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid ev sales hybrid sales volt