Nissan has broadly expanded its bumper-to-bumper commercial van warranty covering the passenger and cargo NV vans as well as the NV200 cargo van.

Nissan's van warranty now covers their vehicles for five years and 100,000 miles, a significant bump from the prior warranty that covered the vehicles for three years and 36,000 miles.

"We're excited, because we think this is a game changer," said Phil O'Connor, director and chief marketing manager for Nissan's trucks, SUVs, crossovers, and commercial trucks. "It reinforces what we believe in our core. Our vans are very durable."

The new warranty applies to 2014 model-year vehicles, including the NV Cargo Van, NV Passenger Van and NV200 compact cargo van. Nissan is offering its NV in three versions for 2014 — the NV1500, NV2500HD, and NV3500HD.

The improved warranty retroactively covers 2014 model-year vehicles, including those already purchased by fleet buyers. The NV200 Taxi's warranty coverage remains at three years and 36,000 miles for a limited basic warranty and five years and 150,000 miles for a limited powertrain warranty.

Since introducing the NV in the U.S. market for the 2012 model year, Nissan has seen its full-size van find a niche among owner operators and small business owners, including HVAC service technicians, plumbers, and small delivery fleets with heavy payloads, O'Connor said.

The NV cargo and passenger vans now account for 5.3 percent of the full-size van market, while the NV200 accounts for 19.4 percent of the compact van market, according to Nissan.

"While we're relatively new to the world of commercial vehicles in the U.S., we've already proven our mettle with vehicles that endure harsh conditions that passenger cars will never see," said Fred Diaz, Nissan's senior vice president for sales and marketing and operations. "This warranty reaffirms our confidence in the quality of our vehicles, as some of the NV 2500 and 3500 models have already accrued 550,000-plus miles of real-world use."

By Paul Clinton