Nissan Diesel moves into Europe
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• The Japanese assault on the European commercial vehicle market has been strengthened, with the news that Nissan Diesel trucks are to be built in Ireland.
An initial 400 trucks a year will be built in Dublin.
Nissan claims that all of the 8-15-tonners will be sold in Ireland, but the company says: "Nissan Diesel regards the Republic of Ireland as a European country."
The trucks will be shipped into Ireland in kit form by UD Ireland and assembled by a team of 20 workers. UD is primarily a joint venture between Japanese trading house Marubeni, which owns 30%, and complete vehicles should and the Irish Westward group, be available by the end of the with 70%. The first kits are year.
due to arrive in September, A small amount of money
has been provided by the Irish Development Authority, which says it is "very pleased, because Nissan's entry could be the basis of something much larger". The Nissan trucks will use up to 10% of Irish components.
Nissan Diesel says it has chosen the Republic of Ireland for production because it has successfully sold trucks there in the past. "We have decided to re-penetrate this market," says a spokesman in Tokyo. The scale of Nissan Diesel's investment will be "fixed at a later date", he adds.
The Westward Group is also Ireland's major distributor for Scania trucks, selling 200 heavy vehicles a year in a market worth 2,000 units. The company, owned by Roscommon businessman, Jim Callery, says the deal is in its "very early stages" and premises are still being sought.
Westward was unable to say how Scania will react to the news that it is signing a deal with a rival.
Scania has told Commercial Motor it is awaiting confirmation of the arrangement: "The Nissan vehicles would not be in a weight range in which we compete. But we're watching with interest."
Nissan's announcement seems to have taken most truck manufacturers by surprise. Most felt it is not a threat in the short-term — "but we are taking note and will keep an eye on it," says Volvo.
Seddon Atkinson says it is inevitable that the Japanese will get a toe hold in the European market at some point. Another British manufacturer feels that the venture is "being done in rather an Irish way" and points to the experience of Hino in the Irish market "who have yet to make an impact in the UK".
The only established Japanese heavy truck manufacturer in Europe is Hino.