Nissan-Renault alliance to open Chennai facility next month
23 Feb 2010
Japanese car maker Nissan said yesterday that its Chennai manufacturing facility would open next month, from where the company would roll out its 'Micra' compact car for the Indian market.
According to a company official, the facility would be inaugurated by the chairman and CEO of Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn on 17 March.
The Chennai plant of Renault-Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd has been set up at an investment of Rs4,000 crore and has an installed capacity of 4 lakh units per annum. The company is a joint venture between Renault and Nissan.
He said Nissan's global plans for the small car would be announced at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March.
Earlier Nissan had said it would shift the production of Micra from UK to India that would serve as the export hub for the company.
According to Nissan's plans for the domestic market which it announced earlier, the company plans to introduce nine models in India by 2012, five of which would be manufactured locally. Currently it offers only two models in the Indian market namely, the Teana and SUV Xtrail.
Nissan had said it was targeting a market share of 5.5 per cent in India in the future. This is equivalent to the global market share of Nissan. The car market in India is at 1.2 million cars annually.
