NADA MEETING: Nissan Plans Big Dealer Training For Big Pickup

SAN FRANCISCO February 4, 2003; Bill Koenig writing for Bloomberg reports that Nissan Motor Co. is planning its most extensive U.S. training program for dealers as Japan's No. 3 automaker prepares to introduce its first large pickup to compete in a segment dominated by U.S. automakers.

Nissan begins production later this year of the Titan pickup at a plant in Canton, Mississippi.

All of 1,100 Nissan-brand dealers will receive training "before we roll out the truck," Jed Connelly, head of sales and marketing for Nissan's U.S. unit, told reporters. Connelly spoke following a meeting with Nissan dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association in San Francisco.

The program will be "our biggest and most expensive training effort," said William Kirrane, general manager of the company's Nissan division. Executives declined to say how much the company will spend. Connelly said the cost will include production of prototype trucks to be sent to dealers for use in training.

Nissan, which is partially owned by France's Renault SA, unveiled the Titan at last month's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Tokyo-based Nissan is trying to boost profits by expanding U.S. sales and entering new product segments. The Titan, with a 5.6-liter engine, goes on sale late this year as a 2004 model.

The company is expanding training because many of its dealers don't have experience selling to the large pickup market, which is dominated by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit. The training program will also cover Nissan's planned and still unnamed full-size sport-utility vehicle.