NISSAN is about to launch a new attack on Britain's LCV market by using its partnership with Renault.

The Japanese maker has already relaunched its Cabstar pick-up and upgraded the Terrano van and soon a host of new Renault derivatives will hit the UK, led by the Interstar, a rebadged Renault Master, in April. By the end of the year Nissan intends to launch the Primastar, a rebadged Renault Trafic, and the second quarter of next year will see a Nissan version of the car-derived Kangoo, although a name has not been chosen yet. It will, however, end in 'star'.

With these new models, Nissan will be able to offer a complete range of vans to fleets apart from in the micro sector.

A Nissan spokesman told Fleet News: 'We will not be hiding the fact that these vans are rebadged Renaults - after all, Renault has an enviable reputation where vans are concerned. But we will be offering a different deal, not on price but maybe on specification or servicing.'

One area where Nissan hopes to score highly is in the prospect of immediate delivery. He said: 'If a van has broken down or been written off, some fleet operators may need a replacement immediately. Therefore we intend to keep a stock of six core models for delivery within a few days.'

Nissan is also intending to chase fleet business with the appointment of a new fleet sales manager and a sales team. All Nissan dealers will be able to sell vans but there will be an upper echelon of specialist dealers with extra knowledge and services.

The Interstar will be offered with a choice of three lengths, heights, engines and gross vehicle weights. Engines are 1.9, 2.2 or 2.5-litre common rail diesel units offering between 80 and 115bhp and between 147 and 213lb-ft of torque. Load volumes vary from eight to 13.9 cubic metres and gross vehicle weights are between 2.8 and 3.5 tonnes.