Looks like Nissan is entering the commercial van market and it’s with a van built in the USA. Ford has owned this segment for the past 40 years and I’m sure they’ll do whatever they can to hold onto market share. Also, Fiat has plans to enter this market with one or two products coming over from Europe so look for this segment to start having real competition.

From the Detroit Free Press:

Nissan will challenge General Motors’ and Ford’s stranglehold on the market for full-size vans when it unveils its big NV today.

The large van is the first from a foreign brand to go after a small but profitable business segment U.S. automakers have had to themselves. Nissan will build the van in its under-utilized Canton, Miss., assembly plant. The van shares its basic engineering with the Titan pickup Nissan builds in Canton.

“The commercial van segment has been relatively ignored” by domestic automakers, simply because there’s not enough competition to force them to improve their vehicles, said Joe Castelli, Nissan vice president for commercial vehicles and fleet sales.

Read the full article here.