Japan's Nissan Diesel Sells Stake to Volvo

Topics:  Nissan Diesel, Volvo

Catherine Makino
March 24, 2006
Tokyo

Nissan Motor Company, which is Japan's second largest automaker, has decided to get out of the truck business. It sold most of its 19 percent stake in Nissan Diesel to the Volvo Auto Group of Sweden.

Volvo is the world's second-largest truck manufacturer. It will buy 13 percent of Nissan Diesel for $195 million, and has an option to buy the remaining six percent from Nissan within the next four years.

Nissan's president, Carlos Ghosn, explained the reasons for the sale. "We don't have an intention to become, also, a truck manufacturer,” he said. “We have a lot of projects in cars. We at Nissan Motors have a lot of prospective of growth, a lot of markets, a lot of products to do."

Volvo hopes to increase its sales in Japan, China and Southeast Asia. Nissan Diesel is Japan's fourth-largest truck manufacturer.

This article is a section of a larger article titled Nissan-Volvo Deal and Other Japanese Business News