Nissan Diesel to Unveil Business Plan

TOKYO, July 5 Reuters reported that Japanese truckmaker Nissan Diesel Co wll unveil a new business plan in September and would consider a tie-up with overseas rivals if the opportunity presented itself, new president Iwao Nakamura said on Friday.

"A domestic market with annual demand of 80,000 units is not really a market for even one global truckmaker. If you are going to be a top player globally then it is best to cooperate rather than go it alone," Nakamura said at his first news conference.

A decade-long decline in domestic truck demand has battered Japan's four truckmakers, and heavily indebted Nissan Diesel, owned 22.5 percent each by Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Renault SA , is regarded as one of the weakest.

Nakamura, who has a background in engineering and replaced Hirofumi Nakazawa as president late last month, also said consolidation among Japan's four truckmakers was possible.

"The market is very severe, and it wouldn't be strange to see integration at any point," he said.

But Nakamura added he would not move aggressively in that direction as Nissan Diesel and the other three firms -- Hino Motors Ltd, Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Isuzu Motors Ltd -- still suffered from excess capacity and needed to restructure.

Nissan Diesel's new business plan will stress the importance of cashflow and continued cost cutting as the truckmaker tries to shrink its long-term interest-bearing debt of 416.9 billion yen ($3.47 billion).

Overseas markets were the main area of growth, he said, adding that he would be looking at China, the United States, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"I am willing to invest heavily if the right opportunity for growth arises," he said.

Nakamura also said the truckmaker needed to strengthen its competitiveness in areas where it did business with Nissan Motor, such as diesel engines.

He added that he saw opportunities for expanding profits in after-sales services such as repairs.

Although Nakamura was brought in from Nissan Motor, a source at Japan's third-largest automaker has said his appointment was not meant to represent a strengthening of relations between the two companies.