Chevrolet To Get Re-Badged Nissan NV Vans

It is a niche that GM cannot fill, but Nissan has a vehicle that can do the job.

@RobertRyan- "It is a niche that GM cannot fill...." It would be accurate to say that GM "chooses not to fill" in North America with their own design at this time. Some commenters have alluded to similar products produced by GM in other regions, though I have had no interest in this segment and don't follow those products. I don't recall profound conclusions being drawn about German carmakers and VW, when they offered their "German Engineered", Chrysler NA engineered and produced Routan. VW sells miniscule volume in a very much larger segment than this commercial van will compete in.

@Doctor olds "It would be accurate to say that GM “chooses not to fill” in North America with their own design at this time." Well they are actually "choosing to fill" this niche with a rebadeged Nissan product at this time. They do not have a product like the Nissan 200 to fill it.Otherwise it would be a rebadged Opel Van. Same applies to VW, a product they did not produce and it was cheaper to use a Chrysler rather than build it up from scratch.

@RobertRyan It appears to me that the Opel/Vauxhall Combo is very much like the NV200 in size, as I anticipated with my comment and have confirmed. The GM van (Combo)is just 10 mm longer, and 15 mm lower in height, though it is 142 mm wider than the Nissan van and has a substantial advantage in volume - 4.2 cubic meters versus 3.1 cubic meters. NV200 is already certified for US sale. Often, costs to bring a vehicle line into compliance with US requirements inhibits US offering of vehicles aleady being sold in other regions. One example of conflicting regional demands is the European consumer desire for large trunk/hatch openings in cars, which then have difficulty complying with the US's more stringent rear crash worthiness requirement.

@doctor olds "It appears to me that the Opel/Vauxhall Combo is very much like the NV200 in size, " No the NV200 is used as a Taxi in NY. Fitting more than two people in a Opel Combi is not a pleasant thought. "is the European consumer desire for large trunk/hatch openings in cars, which then have difficulty complying with the US’s more stringent rear crash worthiness requirement." One it is not a car, it is a Van. Two the Sprinter and Promaster are pretty identical to the overseas Sprinter /Ducato. As far as safety goes, unless there is another country called the USA, what I saw was no seat belts, triple towing and much higher alcohol intake limits in many States of the US, then here. I could go on about the structural aspects as well, but safety in Automobiles is more left up to the individual in the US, than it is here.

I have no inside knowledge re: the decision to use the Nissan rather than importing the Combo, but, to repeat my original idea, I expect GM is using the Nissan because it is cheaper and faster to market in a very small segment. It looks like GM does have a very similar sized Van in the globa portfolio, though. I don't agree that our standards are inadequate. I might agree that they tend to be too stringent, but vehicles sold here are certainly the safest in the world. The US has long been the leader in vehicle regulations, and in that specific, is more of a nanny state than others. Very many vehicles sold elsewhere are incapable of meeting our high standards. My comment relates to the social behaviors you alluded to. Some of our politicians do want a nanny state just like UK and Aus. I don't support them!

@doctor olds Your "high vehicle standards" has allowed the US to have accident injury rate much higher than here.The US standards are a bit lower than the European ones. It ties in with the slapdash attitude to vehicle safety generally. Best thing done so far, is to come inline with everyone else and ban texting on phones. Still lack of helmets on Bike riders, seatbelts, triple towing, poor safety vehicle checks, you may feel that is "normal'. Someone pays with their life for that sort of "normalcy" The weirdest thing is US drivers are probably the politest and least aggressive I have ever encountered!