Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), a subsidiary of Daimler, and Nissan Motor Company have signed a reciprocal agreement for the supply of light duty trucks in Japan, which will see a Nissan Atlas-variant badged as a Fuso Canter, and a Fuso Canter-variant badged as an Nissan Atlas.
The agreement follows on from a Memorandum of Understanding signed in June between the Daimler-owned Fuso and Nissan, building on a wider strategic partnership between Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan.
The Nissan Atlas is a popular light-duty truck on the Japanese domestic market, and Fuso will sell the Atlas F24 under the Fuso Canter Guts name.
In return, Nissan will sell the light-duty truck Fuso Canter under the new model name “NT450 Atlas”. The agreement covers an initial volume of 1,300 units in total.
“With our growth strategy ‘FUSO 2015’ we will significantly improve the satisfaction of our customers,” said Fuso’s president and CEO Dr Albert Kirchmann.
“Our latest achievement is the Fuso Canter Guts to be offered from 2013, which will ’round off’ the bottom of our broad range of light trucks.”
According to a statement by Daimler, “The goal of the cooperation between MFTBC and Nissan is to utilise the expertise of both manufacturers with a view to bolstering the business with light-duty trucks in Japan.
“The present agreement on reciprocal supply of trucks will enable both partners to expand their truck assortment, realize economies of scale and achieve savings in development costs. This will lead to increased efficiency and productivity for both sides.
