Nissan Diesel May Expand Dongfeng Tie To Up China Sales

Monday 11:01 pm ET

TOKYO January 5, 2004;-Kazuhiro Shimamura writing for Dow Jones reported that Nissan Diesel Motor Co. said Tuesday it hopes to boost its truck sales in China by more than sixfold, possibly by tying up in sales with local production partner Dongfeng Motor Co.

Nissan Diesel, the truck-making affiliate of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault , aims to achieve annual sales in China of 10,000 trucks "in the medium-term," up from the current 1,500, a company spokesman said.

At 0345 GMT shares in Nissan Diesel were up 15% at Y233 following a Nihon Keizai Shimbun report that Nissan Diesel will start selling its trucks through Dong Feng's sales network in China as early as this year.

Details of the sales expansion plan have not yet been finalized, but expanding the production tie with Dongfeng to include marketing operations is being considered, the spokesman said.

Nissan Diesel's production joint venture with Dongfeng, Dongfeng Hangzhou Motor Co., has the capacity to raise output to 10,000 trucks/year, the spokesman added.

The joint venture makes large trucks under the Nissan Diesel brand using parts shipped from Japan. The joint company's output is directly sold to local buyers. Nissan Diesel does not have its own sales network in China.

Nissan Diesel's trucks are high-end models and do not compete with Dongfeng's trucks in the same market.