Honda, Nissan to Sell Performance Parts

After years of watching aftermarket companies capture a huge chunk of change churning out go-fast parts for their cars, American Honda and Nissan finally have decided to start selling their own high-performance parts.

Both announced their plans in Las Vegas last month at SEMA, the annual automotive aftermarket get-together put on by the Specialty Equipment Market Assn., a trade group for the automotive performance parts industry.

Nissan is taking the biggest step next fall with a line of equipment for Nissan and Infiniti vehicles under the NISMO (NISsan MOtorsports) brand name it has used in Japan since 1984.

A more cautious Honda is starting with a single test-market program--a performance suspension, tires and wheels package for the 2002 Civic EX, available through Honda dealers in the spring.