Nissan to team with Chrysler on 2 vehicles

Nissan Motor Co. said Monday that it would make a new small car designed by Chrysler and that Chrysler would make a full-size pickup truck designed by Nissan.

The agreement is part of a growing relationship between Chrysler and the No. 3 Japanese automaker as they try to adapt to markets buffeted by the economic slowdown and rising gasoline prices.

Both products will be sold in North America, and the new Chrysler small car will also be sold in Europe and other global markets starting in 2010. No financial details were disclosed.

The new car will be made at Nissan’s Oppama plant in Japan. Chrysler will make the pickup, which will go on sale in 2011, at its plant in Saltillo, Mexico, the companies said.

The full-size Nissan Titan pickup will remain on the market until the new pickup goes on sale, said Dominique Thormann, senior vice president for administration and finance at Nissan North America. The Canton, Miss., plant that makes the Titan will start producing commercial vehicles for Nissan and no jobs will be lost, Thormann said.