Major news overnight from Yokohama and Stuttgart with Daimler AG and the Renault-Nissan alliance announcing an expansion of their five-year strategic co-operation to include a new pickup (ute).
Specifically this means the recently-announced first-ever Mercedes-Benz pickup (ute) will be based on a double-cab version of the all-new Nissan NP300 Navara (but with engineering and design input from Mercedes-Benz specific to its customers).
The Mercedes-Benz pickup will be manufactured by Nissan in the Renault plant in Cordoba, Argentina and at the Nissan plant in Barcelona, Spain.
Nissan Australia will soon launch the all-new NP300 Navara range locally – again sourced from the Nissan plant just outside Bangkok, Thailand.
Nissan is also developing a version of the Navara for its alliance partner Renault. Renault’s first-ever 1-tonne pickup will begin manufacturing next year at the Nissan plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Primary markets for the Mercedes-Benz pickup will be Europe, Australia, South Africa and Latin America.
