Chrysler LLC and Nissan Motor Co. announced a partnership on Friday for the South American market which calls for cars produced by Nissan but sold under the Chrysler brand name.

The car is based on Nissan's Versa sedan. The agreement would improve the product line up of Chrysler, a company that is shifting toward smaller and more fuel-efficient cars instead of big trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Nissan, which generally produces small cars, has been looking to keep its plants running at higher capacities and share costs to increase its presence in the worldwide vehicle market.

This kind of tactical partnership allows us to maximize product offerings yet minimize costly investments -- such as new plant infrastructure, tooling and R&D, Chrysler's President Tom LaSorda said in a statement..

The quantity of units to be produced hasn't been specified. Neither the name of the car nor the countries where it will be sold has been announced, but the cars will be produced in a factory in Mexico.

Chrysler