Nissan halts alliance plans with Chrysler

Before Chrysler was ever involved in alliance talks with Fiat, the Auburn Hills carmaker was already tied with Nissan over several platform swapping and production sharing deals. Both Chrysler and Nissan have now confirmed that two out of the three original product-sharing deals have been put on hold.

The three projects under the original deal were to include the supply of two small Nissan vehicles to Chrysler in 2010. One of the small cars was to be based on the current Nissan Versa, while the other was to be a unique hatch based on Chrysler’s own 2006 Dodge Hornet concept car. Both were expected to be launched next year. In return, Chrysler was to supply Nissan with a full-sized pickup to replace the Titan, also in 2010.

It has now been revealed that the two carmakers have “paused” plans to share the North American-built small car and the full-sized pickup until they can bring down their costs. Earlier this month Nissan announced that it planned to shed up to 20,000 jobs as it copes with a predicted $2.6 billion loss for the year, and this could have very easily caused the latest announcement. Chrysler, meanwhile, is struggling to remain viable as its sales continue to plummet.

A third vehicle-sharing project to give Chrysler a version of Nissan's compact Versa sedan remains on schedule, both companies confirmed to Automotive News. Blame has been centered on the unfavorable economic conditions.