Mercedes and Nissan expand cooperation to build pickup

Daimler said it would expand its cooperation with partner Nissan to develop a mid-sized pickup truck for Mercedes-Benz, as the German premium carmaker seeks to narrow the sales gap with rival BMW.

The new Mercedes-Benz pickup targets commercial and private clients in Europe, Latin America, Australia and South Africa, and will share some of the underpinnings with an all-new Nissan NP300 truck, Daimler and Nissan said in a joint statement.

"Entering the rapidly growing segment of mid-size pickups is an important step in continuing our global growth path," Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche said. "Thanks to our well-established partnership with the Renault-Nissan alliance, we are able to drastically reduce the time and cost to enter this key segment."

Late last month, Mercedes announced it will build a medium-sized pickup truck for customers outside North America, entering a new vehicle category which has been dominated by lower-priced brands.

Mercedes, Nissan and Renault have shared engines, plants and vehicle underpinnings for small cars since an alliance was struck between the carmakers in 2010. Since then, collaboration has expanded from three common vehicle projects to 13. The Mercedes-Benz one-tonne pickup truck will be built by Nissan in Cordoba, Argentina, along with the Nissan NP300 and a Renault-branded truck, for Latin America, Daimler said.

The three trucks will also be built in the Nissan plant in Barcelona, Spain, for other markets, excluding North America. Production of the trucks at the two plants will start by the end of the decade, the companies said.