Nissan And GM Partner Up To Build Small Van

On the verge of being frozen out of the Euro-sourced commercial van craze currently sweeping across North America, General Motors has made a surprising deal with Japanese rival Nissan.  Under the terms of a new agreement, Chevrolet will be re-badging Nissan NV200 compact vans and selling them as their own.  The vehicles will start hitting the market late next year.

The van, which will be called the 2015 Chevrolet City Express, will compete against models like the Ford Transit Connect, which offers a small footprint but excellent practicality, backed with a fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine.  Presumably, the City Express with also go head-to-head with the NV200, with which it will share its 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine and its 115.2 inch wheelbase.

The van will be built at a Nissan plant in Mexico.  Pricing and the number of available configurations for the Chevrolet City Express have yet to be released.