Nissan to flood South America with Versa compact cars

Nissan Motor Co., will supply cars to Chrysler LLC to sell in South America, as the U.S. carmaker seeks to expand its product range while holding down investment costs.

Photo: Nissan to flood South America with Versa compact cars

The agreement calls for Tokyo-based Nissan to make a version of the Versa compact car for Chrysler starting in 2009, Nissan said in an e-mailed statement today. Financial terms weren't disclosed, Bloomberg reports.

Nissan Motor Company is a Japanese automobile manufacturer, which formerly marketed vehicles under the Datsun brand name and is one of the largest car manufacturers.

The company's main offices are located in the Ginza area of Chūō-ku, Tokyo with disassembling by 2013, but Nissan plans to move their headquarters to Yokohama, Kanagawa by 2010, with construction starting in 2007. In 1999, Nissan entered an alliance with Renault S.A. of France. Nissan is among the top three Asian rivals of the "big three" in the U.S. Currently they are the third largest Japanese car manufacturer.

The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have featured among Ward's 10 Best Engines for 12 straight years, since the award's inception.

Chrysler LLC is an American automobile manufacturer that has been producing automobiles since 1925 and from 1914 under the Dodge name. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler (now Daimler AG) after an arduous deal falsely sold to stakeholders as a "Merger of Equals" in 1998. Prior to 1998, Chrysler Corporation traded under the "C" symbol on the NYSE. Under DaimlerChrysler, the company was named "DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC", with its U.S. operations generally referred to as the "Chrysler Group".

On May 14, 2007 DaimlerChrysler AG announced the sale of 80.1% of Chrysler Group to American equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., although Daimler continues to hold a 19.9% stake. Chrysler LLC is the new name. The deal was finalized on August 3, 2007.