Nissan Motor Co., currently a net buyer of business-use vehicles built by other automakers for sale under its own name, announced that it wants to reverse the situation and become a net seller as early as 2008 to boost the segment's lagging profitability, according to Reuters. Identifying the light commercial vehicle business as crucial for driving overall sales volumes and profits in the coming years, Andrew Palmer, head of the light commercial vehicle unit, said Nissan would secure new customers to buy its products under an original equipment manufacturing arrangement and expand the lineup with existing customers. In addition, Nissan will reduce its own purchases of vehicles from other companies, such as Mazda Motor Corp. and Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd., by building more on its own. Under its current three-year business plan, Nissan aims to sell 434,000 light commercial vehicles from this year to March 2008, a 40 percent jump from last business year, while simultaneously doubling the division's operating margin to at least 8 percent. To improve margins, Nissan is also planning to slash the number of its unique light commercial vehicle platforms to two from 11, enabling it to cut costs by using common parts.