Nissan, Renault, M&M JV to launch Teana

12 April 2007

New Delhi: Japanese auto company Nissan which entered into a three-way joint venture with Renault and Mahindra & Mahindra for setting up a plant in Chennai, plans to launch its premium sedan Teana in India next week.

Though a final decision has not been taken on the issue yet, Nissan and Renault are likely to have a 25 per cent stake each in the JV while the Indian partner Mahindra and Mahindra will have a 50-per cent stake.

The joint venture has proposed investment of Rs4,000 crore in Chennai for a greenfield plant with a capacity of 4,00,000 units in the first phase.

As part of its India expansion plans, Nissan will be introducing its premium sedan Teana next week, which will be pitched against the likes of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which are in Rs15-lakh plus range.

The company will be rolling out compact cars for the Indian market from the Chennai plant expected to be commissioned by 2009.

Nissan had also entered into an agreement with Maruti Suzuki for contract manufacturing 50,000 units of compact cars a year for exports in the European market. Currently, it sells SUV XTrail in India.