Japanese auto major Nissan, which is setting up a Rs 4,500-crore car-manufacturing facility with Renault in Chennai, said that the project is on schedule and that its first car would roll out before summer 2010.
“There is no delay, our plans are on track and Nissan India will come out with its next-generation A-segment car- Micra, on schedule before summer 2010,” Nissan Motor India’s Managing Director and CEO Kiminobu Tokuyama said.
French automaker Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan said on Friday they had signed a cooperation accord with China to produce environmentally friendly vehicles.
Wuhan, a major city in central China, will serve as the pilot region for the project.
This is a “first step toward zero-emission vehicles in China,” Renault and Nissan said in a statement, with the first models to hit the road in 2011.
Nissan will work with the city government in Wuhan, home to nearly 10 million people, on the plan.
The Micra hatchback car is named March in Japan and the Indian version would be christened either Micra or March, he said.
The Ennore port in north Chennai would have a dedicated jetty for exports of Nissan cars and the company hopes to export 2-2.5 lakh cars annually in 3-4 years and sell 90,000-1,00,000 units in the domestic market.
Tokuyama made it clear that Nissan has no plans to manufacture a small car to take on the Tata’s Nano at this facility, but Nissan-Renault would be collaborating with Bajaj Auto to manufacture a small car in the country.
| 
|