Nissan North America Inc. is out to loosen the stranglehold that Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. have on the business of selling light trucks to commercial customers.

The Japan-based automaker on Monday announced plans to launch three new commercial vehicles for U.S. consumers starting in 2010. The American subsidiary of Japan-based Nissan Motor Co. said it will spend $118 million to expand and retool its plant in Canton, Miss., to build vans and trucks.

Nissan executives, who announced the plans at the MGM Grand Hotel in Detroit, wouldn’t elaborate on the type of vehicle they plan to sell.

GM and Ford are the market leaders in the commercial vehicle business in the U.S., with vehicles such as the Chevrolet Express and the Ford Econoline vans.

Nissan estimates the segment, including half-ton and one-ton pickups and other large vehicles sold to businesses, logs about 1.5 million in annual sales in the United States. Though overall sales in the segment are on the decline, the automaker sees an opportunity.

“Any vehicle we sell here will be a conquest,” said Andy Palmer, corporate vice president of Nissan’s light commercial vehicle business.

The segment also includes delivery trucks, small dump trucks and small busses.

“The market in the U.S. is going to be stagnant for a while, and it you want to grow your base you have to find a new niche,” said Joseph Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, N.J. “This is a niche.”

Nissan’s move is a clear challenge to GM and Ford. Nissan hired Ford’s commercial trucks director, Joe Castelli, to lead the effort at Nissan.

“The Econoline and Express, they’re, what, like 15 years old?” Palmer said. “They’re not spring chickens. I think the world has moved on.”

With sales of bigger and more costly vehicles, the commercial truck business is a profitable one, Ford sales analyst George Pipas said. The Dearborn automaker just redesigned the Econoline and will soon launch a compact work van called the Transit Connect.

“I’d say to them ‘Bring it on,’?” Pipas said of Nissan. “Their track-record is not too solid for Nissan trucks.”

GM caters to commercial customers with vehicles like the Chevrolet HHR wagon and a truck that attaches a van cab to a pickup truck body to give drivers space and fuel efficiency, spokesman Terry Rhadigan said.

“We tend to focus more on small businesses as opposed to huge orders for huge companies,” Rhadigan said. “And still we have 30 percent of that (commercial) market.”

GM and Ford accounted for more than 90 percent of full-size van sales last year, according to Autodata Corp.

Nissan’s commercial truck business has grown rapidly around the world, Palmer said. Nissan sold 518,000 light commercial vehicles outside the U.S. last year, earning an 8 percent profit margin, Palmer said. The Nissan Technical Center North America in Farmington Hills will design the new vehicles, he said.

“Most of the people there today are already working on these vehicles,” he said.

Cummins Inc. will develop and supply the powertrains. ZF Friedrichshafen AG will develop and supply transmissions.

To make room for the new trucks in Mississippi, Nissan will move production of the Infiniti QX56 SUV and Quest minivan elsewhere, the company said. The factory also builds Altima sedans, Titan pickups and Armada SUVs.

General Motors Corp on Wednesday posted a first-quarter decline in global sales after falling in North America, trailing Toyota Motor Corp decisively in the period as the world’s top automaker.

GM also said second-quarter U.S. auto sales may be weaker for the industry than the first quarter as fuel prices rise. But the automaker still expects a recovery in the second half of 2008 and has seen minimal spread of U.S. economic problems into the rapidly growing emerging markets.

“What we’re wondering and asking ourselves is perhaps the second quarter will be weaker than the first quarter,” GM Chief Sales Analyst Mike DiGiovanni told analysts and reporters after saying GM has factored a weaker second quarter into its plans.
“That said, we still believe … the fundamentals are in place for a second-half recovery,” DiGiovanni added.

DiGiovanni said April sales may have weakened “a bit” from March, but later said the results have been similar.

GM reported a 0.6 percent decline in global sales to 2.25 million vehicles in the first quarter, falling behind Toyota, which reported sales rose 2.7 percent to 2.41 million vehicles in the January-to-March period.

GM and Toyota were roughly even in 2007 for the top spot among the world’s automakers, with GM slightly ahead if sales from a China business were included.

DiGiovanni said GM had anticipated Toyota would outsell it during the first quarter and had outsold the largest U.S. automaker in the first quarter of 2007 as well.

“We would like to be No. 1 in sales at the end of the year and we’re going to compete hard for every sale to try to do that, but our focus right now is on profitable, sustainable growth across the entire world,” DiGiovanni said.

GM reported robust demand in the emerging markets and growth in Europe that could not offset a 10.2 percent decline in North America to 947,498 vehicles, where a slowing U.S. economy and rising gasoline prices have pressured sales.

GAS PRICES A CLEAR HEADWIND

With truck-heavy vehicle lineups, GM, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC are feeling the pinch of a consumer shift toward smaller, fuel-efficient cars in the United States, while Toyota and Honda Motor Co Ltd expand market share.

GM reported sales gains in its mid-size car and crossover segments in the United States during the quarter, while truck deliveries fell 15 percent.

GM also has seen downward pressure on vehicle transaction prices in the United States and Europe, DiGiovanni said.

Sales in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose 19.6 percent, while sales in its Asia-Pacific region grew 5.8 percent, GM said. It posted a 3.3 percent sales increase in Europe in the last quarter.

Overall, GM expects global demand for cars and trucks to rise about 4 percent in 2008 from the 70.6 million vehicles in 2007, slowing from a 4.8 percent growth rate last year.
GM, which reported a $39 billion loss in 2007, is grappling with a subprime meltdown, record oil and gas prices, and tighter credit that analysts warn could combine to push U.S. light-vehicle sales to as low as 15 million units in 2008.

DiGiovanni said the second-half recovery forecast has been based on expectations that a positive impact from the government economic stimulus package will not be felt until May, and that Federal Reserve interest rate cuts take about six months to begin to affect the economy.

One big caveat to GM’s outlook is the price of gasoline.
Crude oil, which accounts for about 70 percent of the cost for making gasoline, hit nearly $120 a barrel Tuesday and the average price U.S. drivers paid for gasoline has soared to a new high of $3.51 a gallon, up 64 cents from last year.

“This is clearly a headwind that we didn’t anticipate would be to this level, so that’s factored into our thinking now too … to the fact that we think the second quarter may be weaker than the first quarter,” DiGiovanni said.

In North America, the automaker also has been pressured by a two-month United Auto Workers strike against American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc, a major supplier to GM.

GM has at least partly idled about 30 plants in North America because of that strike, which has mainly affected production of slower selling large SUVs and pickup trucks, but has begun to affect some car production as well.

The UAW also has pressured GM with a strike at a plant where it assembles faster selling crossovers — smaller SUVs that are built on a car platform, are easier to drive and get better gas mileage than larger truck-based SUVs.

DiGiovanni said GM is not treating the strike that started last week at its Lansing Delta Township plant lightly, but the walkout has not affected company sales.

Revenue attributable to truck sales, which currently made up about a third of Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s (MBSA’s) yearly sales of R37-billion, was likely to rise to around 50% in the coming years, given strong market demand for commercial vehicles in both South and Southern Africa.

Chairperson Dr Hansgeorg Niefer noted on Wednesday that the commercial vehicle division had recorded “outstanding growth” in 2007, with the unit selling 8 600 vehicles and capturing 23,3% of the total market.

Speaking at the release of strong business results, which saw revenue climb 13,5% from R32,5-billion in 2006, Niefer said that “trucks are becoming more and more important for us”.

During the period, Mercedes-Benz trucks increased its already high market penetration by a further 0,4%, while sales of its Freightliner products surged 42%, followed closely by Fuso, with a 35% rise. Its extra-heavy Western Star product, meanwhile, increased its sales by around 30%.

The increase was achieved in a strong overall market for commercial vehicles, underpinned by robust construction and infrastructure. Overall, the medium commercial segment grew 12,1%, heavy commercial vehicles by 11,6%, extra-heavy sales rose 16,7%, while buses grew by 2 %. By contrast, passenger car sales continued to reflect a sharp decline year-on-year, falling 14,7%, while the light commercial vehicle market also reflected a decline of 6,3%.

The growth in demand for trucks had also resulted in a rethink of MBSA’s assembly strategy, with a decision having been made to reintegrate this function. Commercial vehicles assembly had hitherto been outsourced to Ikhwezi Truck Tech, which used facilities owned by MBSA to assemble completely knocked-down units.

Niefer reported that the integration would be coupled to a R50-million investment to expand its assembly capacity, part of which would take place on a site previously used for passenger-car assembly.

In response to a question posed by Engineering News on the impact that the dynamic growth of the commercial vehicles was having on the group’s strategic thinking (see video), Niefer said it saw “far more growth in the truck business, not only through South Africa, but also in the southern part of Africa.”

“Therefore, we have decided to integrate our truck business,” Niefer explained, adding that it would be incorporating some of the facilities at its East London manufacturing hub into the expanded truck-assembly business.

“I would say [truck sales] currently make up one-third of our business and I expect this to grow closer to 50%,” he added.

Another possible growth area lay with buses, particularly as cities sought to deploy bus rapid-transit (BRT) solutions ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which would take place in South Africa in mid-2010.

MBSA was assembling a specialist BRT project team, comprising experts from Germany, who had been involved in rolling out these public-transport systems in South America.

Despite the aerodynamic design of the modern tractor, in a quest for greater fuel economy, the rectanglular shape of the trailer has changed very little since its inception.

Utility Trailer is hoping to change all that. It introduced two new designs at the Mid-America Trucking Show, as well as an environmental collaboration with another company to promote a drag-reduction device.

At the start of the launch, Utility Trailer introduced its new thin-wall 4000D-X dry van, a post panel design that has a composite wall for less damage and greater durability. The sidewall panel is made of high-density polyurethane foam construction “sandwiched” between high-strength inner and outer skins, forming a composite that bonds together. The result, according to Utility, is a composite panel that absorbs more energy, and outperforms earlier designs.

“It’s a lean design that is lighter, and stronger than its predecessor,” said Craig Bennett, Utility Trailer’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing.

The 4000DX also utilizes the company’s patented SnagFree recessed posts, for damage-resistant loading. Some of the standard features include a stainless steel rear door frame, and flush-mounted galvanized steel logistics posts, with fully-recessed, squeezed fasteners for greater durability.

Utility Trailer also introduced what it describes as the “highest strength, lowest weight flatbed.” The 4000A is built with aluminum/steel composite that reduces TARE weight by 400 lbs. Utility says the new flatbed is durable, reliable, and stronger than previous models, due to a newly-designed 80,000 psi high-tensile steel, hat-shaped main beam top flange.

“Our goal was to bring to market an optimized flatbed trailer that would provide the maximum return on investment for our customers,” said Jeff Bennett, vice-president of engineering for Utility Trailer. “We did this by eliminating 400 lbs of steel and aluminum on the base model flatbed, which not only reduced material costs, but enabled the trailer to carry more payload.”

On another front, Utility Trailer has entered into a partnership with ATDynamics, for the commercial launch of the latter’s aerodynamic TrailerTail. The rear-drag reduction device will be attached to the rear of the trailer, for greater fuel economy.

This design qualified for the US Environmental Protection certified SmartWay program, an environmental and financial incentive intended to promote upgrades that result in fuel economy, and thus, reduced emissions. The incentive is potentially available to Canadians, who take advantage of US financial arrangements linked to SmartWay, according to a financial representative related to the program, who was speaking at the Mid America Trucking Show.

Truckers are like motorcycle riders in the way that they invariably customize their rides. It’s probably just as challenging to find a bone stock tractor as it is an unembellished Fat Boy. When you’re plying the roads as much as the Big rigs do, why not have some fun and stand apart from the rest of the crowd and their mudflaps decorated with conformist chrome silhouettes of questionable taste? International’s new LoneStar truck will be factory trickable with a new line of Navistar accessories called DoubleSix Customs. While the Autoblog Garage isn’t quite big enough to hold an 18-wheeler, we did dedicate the better part of an hour to International’s website designing the perfect vehicle for hauling our tricked out fleet of Zastavas.

With International’s online configurator, you can start with a basic truck and add a splash of color, a dollop of flames, lots of chrome, and nearly as many lights as Vegas. The DoubleSix name takes its inspiration from the mother road, Route 66, which International is hoping still resonates with those who keep our economy rolling. Our only problem? Lack of the proper license. Try it yourself, you can even upload logos and graphics to design your perfect LoneStar.

The wet weather Thursday didn’t keep local kids from having the chance to play with some very big toys at Cosmopolitan Park. The Columbia Parents as Teachers program put together its yearly Tons of Trucks event to give kids the opportunity to explore all sorts of trucks. Children of all ages got to climb inside and explore.

Organizers say this is a great opportunity for families to have some fun with their children.

“Activities for children, you need to do the things that they like,” said Linda Romine, program coordinator. “This is an opportunity for them to learn about community service workers, they can learn about lots of different vehicles, have an expansive vocabulary, and see big trucks, little trucks, big wheels, little wheels.”