Nissan Motor Co. launched the Pino minivehicle Monday, hoping the new model helps halt the automaker's slide in domestic car sales.

The Pino, which is made by Suzuki Motor Corp., is Nissan's fourth minicar after the Moco, the Otti and the Clipper commercial vehicle.

By adding the new minivehicle to the lineup, which is cheaper than other existing models, Nissan hopes to expand its customer base by capitalizing on the popularity of minicars.

"The Moco, Otti and Pino target different customers," Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga told reporters at Nissan's head office in Tokyo. "With the introduction of the Pino, we hope to attract new customers from other automakers . . . and hope those new customers will eventually purchase (Nissan's) larger cars."

The Pino, which Suzuki is selling as the Alto, targets single women in their early 20s, whereas the Moco targets women in their late 20s and early 30s and the Otti mothers in their 30s as well as men.

The Pino is priced between 861,000 yen and 1.15 million yen and has a cute design, Nissan said. In addition, the automaker said the new minicar achieves a fuel economy of 21 km per liter.

Of the 766,700 vehicles Nissan sold in 2006, minicars accounted for 17.5 percent, or roughly 135,000 units. Shiga said over 30 percent of the customers who bought Nissan minivehicles last year were new clients, adding the introduction of the Pino is expected to increase Nissan's effort to woo new customers.

The domestic minivehicle market had a banner year in 2006, with sales hitting a record 2.02 million units, exceeding the 2 million mark for the first time. Low prices, fuel efficiency and tax benefits are behind the rising popularity of minicars. Nissan does not make its own minicars and thus sells Suzuki's MR Wagon as the Moco, Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s Minicab commercial vehicle as the Clipper and MMC's eK Wagon as the Otti.

"It is difficult to turn a profit if we develop minivehicles on our own," Shiga said.