“Our fleet customers have asked us for an entry in the commercial small van segment.”
General Motors and Nissan announced today that the companies signed an agreement for Nissan to produce a small cargo van in Mexico that GM will sell in the United States and Canada. GM will rebadge the Nissan NV200 as the Chevrolet City Express, which will go on sale in the fall of 2014. No further technical details or pricing was provided.
Nissan currently sells a version of the vehicle as the NV200 in numerous markets, including the United States and Canada. Nissan also sells full-size NV 1500/2500/3500 Cargo Standard Roof, a 4-row/12-person NV 3500 Passenger and larger NV 2500/3500 Cargo High Roof models. Year-to-date the NV range of vans has sold more than 4,000 units in the U.S.
The NV200 is a cargo van that just went on sale in during April with 200 delivered. It has the lowest claimed starting MSRP in the small segment of $19,990, plus $845 for delivery, and best in class 24 mpg combined EPA fuel economy rating. The front-wheel drive NV200 comes with a 131-horsepower 2-liter inline 4-cylinder engine and a continuously variable automatic transmission.
“Our fleet customers have asked us for an entry in the commercial small van segment, so this addition to the Chevrolet portfolio will strengthen our position with fleets and our commercial customers,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president of GM Fleet and Commercial Sales.
Why the world’s second largest automaker needs to go outside for a small commercial van goes back to a decades old Opel decision to outsource small van production in Europe. Ford, Renault and Citroen all thrive in the segment. It is an embarrassing position for GM in AutoInformed’s view.
