It's both a rare admission by a Japanese "captive import" and a powerful indication of the poor 
state of the American economy and the American dollar: Nissan announced today that it no longer makes financial sense to single-handedly build a full-size pickup in the current US marketplace, and starting in 2011, they will end production in Canton, Mississippi, of their Titan pickup, and partner with Chrysler, which will build the next-generation Titan at their plant in Saltillo, Mexico. (Photos --- Above, 2007 Nissan Titan, Below, Tata's Nano, being driven by Mr. Tata himself at the car's introduction at the recent Delhi Auto Show in India).
In turn, Nissan will manufacture an all-new, fuel-efficient small car based on a Chrysler concept and design. This model will be sold in North America, Europe and other global markets in 2010 and manufactured at Nissan's Oppama Plant in Japan. Analysts, including this one, think the new small car may be, in part, an answer to the Nano, which just debuted in India, built by that nation's Tata Corporation, which just purchased Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Tata is selling the Nano to dealers for about $2,500, so all the website chatter and noise these past few weeks about a "$2,500 car from India" was incorrect; $2,500 is the approximate wholesale cost to dealers, the customers will pay about $3,000 or more, depending on how large the demand is for the cars (and it's expected to be massive) and how much Tata dealers are allowed to add to the "factory sticker price". One thing we know for sure: The new car, designed by Chrysler and built in Japan by Nissan, will not be selling for anywhere near $3,000 in the US.
For several years, Chrysler has been making efforts to produce a "third-world car" similar to the Nano, based on using just a few large plastic pieces which could be bonded together to provide both the car's platform and chassis. However much input Chrysler will have into this all-new Nissan-built vehicle remains to be seen. Nissan recently committed to building a small car for Chrysler based on the Nissan Versa sedan platform, but only, at this time, for "limited distribution" in South American beginning in 2009. (Photos --- 2004 Nissan Titan loaded for bear; Nissan Armada, full-size SUV variant of the Titan).
Nissan also said the production of their massive Armada SUV, which is based on the Titan, will not be affected by this decision to move Titan production, though that is difficult to accept. Nissan also builds their big-selling Altima in Canton, called by industry observers a "radical new assembly plant" ... And it was expensive, costing the #2 Japanese car-maker over $1 billion. The company also said recently that it would discontinue building their seemingly ill-fated Quest minivan and super-deluxe Infiniti QX56 (Infiniti's version of the Armada) in Canton, and begin building light commercial trucks there instead.
Nissan was the first Japanese company to attempt building a full-size pickup in and for America, but
its being available only with a 5.6 Liter V8 and only in King Cab or Crew Cab configurations sealed its fate early on. Nissan had hoped to sell 100,000 Titans annually when they started selling the truck in 2003, and reviews of the truck were generally quite favorable. We know we liked it, and its Armada variant, too. But that big V8 was a massive guzzler, and smacked more of the 1980s than the 21st century. The company struggled, though, to sell just 60,000 a year, and new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ratings for trucks, in a market which was 2.5-million trucks in 2003 but has shrunk to 2.1-million forced Nissan's hand with their big, powerful --- and pricey --- Titan.
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