Nissan aims to challenge Korea in US market
Afp, Detroit
Japanese automaker Nissan plans to challenge the dominance of South Korean carmakers in the low end of the new-car business in the United States when it begins selling the new subcompact Versa next year. But it may find the field already crowded by fellow Japanese competitors, Toyota and Honda, which are also moving into the segment. "Most Japanese manufacturers gained their footholds in North America with fun, economical, high quality, affordable vehicles," Jack Collins, Nissan North America vice president of product development, said Wednesday during a press briefing at Nissan's North American Technical Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, near Detroit. "And though it seems like we've spent 40 years trying to move our product lineup away from those humble beginnings, history does have a way of repeating itself," Collins said, adding that more and more American motorists are thinking seriously about moving into a smaller vehicle for the first time in years. Cars like the Versa will put to the test the two-decades-old adage that Americans don't like hatchbacks, said Lindsay Brooke, an analyst with CSM Worldwide in Farmington Hills.
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