Chrysler to cooperate with Nissan (and build cars for Alfa Romeo?)

Chrysler has announced a tie-up with Nissan to to develop and build new models each other. Renault-owned Nissan will build two new Chrysler models, one for the South American market and one for the American and European markets, both based on the Nissan Versa platform and both built in Japan. The car is expected to be a roadgoing version of the Dodge Hornet, which was first seen as a concept car in Geneva at the 2006 Show. The radical new Focus-sized hatch hasn't progressed much since then, however, as Mercedes Benz stopped funding projects ahead of splitting from Chrysler earlier this year. For its part Chrysler will manufacture a full-size pickup for Nissan in its Mexican factory, replacing the slow-selling Nissan Titan in North America. This saves Nissan the expensive development costs associated with a full-size pickup, particularly as Americans demand a vast array of different sizes, engines, transmissions and payload capacities. Because Chrysler's trucks are a body-on-frame design, making them look like genuine Nissans is a relatively cheap and simple matter of redesigning the cab portion and leaving the trucks unmolested mechanically.