Nissan will exit the commercial van segment in North America after it launched its NV line of work vans in the United States, Canada and Mexico nearly a decade ago.
According to Automotive News, Nissan will soon discontinue production of the NV2500 and NV3500 vans at its production facility in Mississippi and will also stop producing the smaller NV200 compact van, which is built in Mexico.
In a statement, Nissan spokesman Brian Brockman confirmed the company “is considering a number of opportunities to streamline the product portfolio and drive efficiencies within our manufacturing operations,” but stopped short of confirming the demise of its commercial van program.
Sales Numbers - Full-Size Vans - 2019 - United States
| MODEL | YTD 19 / YTD 18 | YTD 19 | YTD 18 | YTD 19 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FORD TRANSIT | +11.67% | 153,868 | 137,794 | 41% |
| CHEVROLET EXPRESS | -4.66% | 77,457 | 81,239 | 21% |
| RAM PROMASTER | +21.05% | 56,409 | 46,600 | 15% |
| FORD E-SERIES | -5.99% | 45,063 | 47,936 | 12% |
| GMC SAVANA | +23.07% | 24,226 | 19,684 | 6% |
| NISSAN NV | +18.46% | 20,022 | 16,902 | 5% |
| TOTAL | +7.68% | 377,045 | 350,155 |
The Japanese automaker entered the commercial van business in 2010 in an attempt to steal some market share away from more established players in the segment like Ford and General Motors. According to AN, Ford controls 50% of the U.S. commercial van market, while GM has a 22% stake. Nissan, meanwhile, has a fairly paltry 8% share of the market.
Nissan’s NV sales tallied up at a fairly reserved 38,790 units in 2019 and have hovered between 34,000 and 39,000 units annually since 2014. By comparison, Ford sold over 240,000 commercial vans in all of 2019, while GM sold just over 101,000 units between the Chevrolet Savana and GMC Express.
Sales Numbers - Compact Vans - 2019 - United States
| MODEL | YTD 19 / YTD 18 | YTD 19 | YTD 18 | YTD 19 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FORD TRANSIT CONNECT | +30.31% | 41,598 | 31,923 | 57% |
| NISSAN NV200 | +0.75% | 18,768 | 18,628 | 26% |
| RAM PROMASTER CITY | -6.30% | 12,920 | 13,788 | 18% |
| TOTAL | +13.91% | 73,286 | 64,339 |
One analyst AN spoke to said Nissan had trouble competing with the Detroit Big Three in the van segment as many fleet customers can get both a competitive truck and commercial van from Ford or GM. The Nissan Tundra is not as competitive as the Ford F-150 or Chevrolet Silverado, however, and it doesn’t really make sense for a fleet operator to have Ford or GM trucks and Nissan vans. Nissan also struggled to win over customers who had a long history of using Ford or GM fleet products.
The current-generation GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express are expected to stay in production until at least 2023. At the same time, GM is also working on a battery-electric fleet van that will compete with the upcoming Ford Transit electric and Rivian’s yet-to-be-named electric van.
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Comments
Pretty amusing to me that Nissan came into the market to take on Ford/Chevy, Chevy continued making the exact same van they always have, and ate their lunch while investing zero R&D dollars other than the occasional repower.
As a fleet manager, when it comes time to replace one of our vans the Nissan just doesn’t come in to the conversation, at all.
No more NV200?, looks like NYC will have a cab problem among other things…..
Nissan Tundra? C’mon guys.
Years later and still not fixed.
These vans were fuel hogs and too short. We did a short term test with one and while nice to drive the fuel mileage was awful and we always wished it had more cargo length.
GM might as well drop one van in 2023 because they are the exact same van. Don’t some fan boy give me some b.s. difference because there is none. Also, to the guy who said GM ate Nissan’s lunch and didn’t change anything on their vans, keep in mind the Challenger is doing that to the Camaro in sales as well. The Charger is also doing that to the Impala. Americans don’t necessarily want some radical new crap all the time, some things stay relevant longer than others. The nissan was a goofy looking van that looked like a dog, the GM vans have a traditional look and traditional proven engines. If I were FCA at this point, I would consider either switching to a RWD van or at least making an AWD system available on the Promaster.
That’s a fact about the Challenger, if I had the choice between the Camaro and Challenger I’d probably take the Challanger. I think it looks better, like the size, and fairly cheap.
My guess on why they keep both the Chevy and GMC vans is to make sure that a fleet customer can get everything they need through their dealer of choice, whether that be a Chevy or a GMC dealer. That’s not based on any knowledge just a theory.
I believe NYC already abandoned use of the NV200 Taxi prior to this announcement. I am sure we will still see them on the roads until they wear out and are replaced. But the real issue is abandoning this market completely without giving their product ample time to grab a foothold into the market. 2012-2020 isn’t anywhere near enough time to break into the market and gain market share. Nissan could realistically sell around the same number of units for the next 7-9 years without making product changes just as Chevy has done. They own over 25% of the small van market and have been plagued the last few years with production. There are years they could have sold more units if they could produce them and when they finally open a second line to build more vehicles Nissan cancels this shortly after to make more Titan trucks that suddenly were way overproduced. So they cut back on truck production soon after and cut models like single cabs and Diesel engines. How this company cannot make money on commercial products when they haven’t been changed or updated since they were introduced is baffling. They made their dealers invest heavily to sell and service these vehicles and will now leave them with nothing to show for it. Why not continue to make the 40k commercial vehicles in their existing dealer network and look to add European models like the NV300 and NV400 in a few years if they can sustain these sales? Cars/SUVs in the retail market must be updated every few years to keep up with other manufacturers. Commercial vehicles can run 20 plus (Chevy Vans) years and still sell year after year without major updates. Nissan needs to get a plan and stick to it instead of changing the way they do business every few years.
As a Commercial Account Manager that has sold all brands including Nissan, I sincerely believe Nissan has capped us from selling more vans for a few reasons. Nissan missed the market with not giving us options on different lengths, a diesel motor and not offering cut-aways for box vans. Also production was liimited from the start. We could never satisfy the demand from our customers. Don’t get me wrong the vans were quality and built to with stand the abuse that contractors gave it.
That’s a shame. They seemed to be good vans with good old standard V8’s but they never offered a diesel option. A dual wheel cutaway chassis would have been neat. I guess NISSAN as a whole is having problems anyway
Nissan needs to continue with R&D on the Nissan NV cargo and high top passenger vans. A little tweeking can bring in back. Great engine , more rugged design like the X will make a well needed turn around. Stop failing and start winning. I myself have some pretty damn good ideas! We need better cargo van, passenger vans and terrain vans. Do let us down. They can become an awesome highly desired van, just get better engineers to design.
Ford’s failing us with their ecoboost timing chains. Mercedes are to expensive service and the crankshaft issues. Bring back a better high top with a more rugged base. Bring a high top passenger van with some new standard options think rugged and above all the X all a reasonable selling price and you will blow the market. Please don’t give up!
As a technician using these Van’s, I have had 5 so far that were leased. They are consistent, reliable, no rattles even at high mileage, little to no rust and easy to operate. The short coming comes in length, power (no longer have the V8). The list is short on short comings. Give us more length and a mid height and Ford is history. As a side note my company has already informed me my next van will be a Ford. I am sad
Hello my name is din , and I’m looking th get a cargo ban finance
What a horrible timing to discontinue it!!!! If they would have had supply in 2022 and early 2023 when people were desperate for work vans, they would have made a killing!