Nissan starts work to double production

CHENNAI: Nissan Motor has started feasibility work to double production capacity to four lakh units a year at its car plant in Oragadam, near Chennai.

Nissan and Renault signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu state government to set up a greenfield plant in 2008. The plant now employs 3,200 persons. The alliance partners were to invest Rs 4,500 crore in the plant which would be shared by both partners.

"Micra rolled out in July last. It is less than a year and we have begun the process to double our capacity," Kiminobu Tokuyama, MD of Nissan India, said. With Renault also announcing aggressive growth plans for the Indian market, the capacity expansion is inevitable. The partners have invested Rs 2,600 crore so far in the plant.
On cards for Nissan is to launch a sedan on the Micra platform later this year which will be followed by a multipurpose vehicle next year. "The sedan will be in the C segment (competing with Ford Fiesta and Honda City) while the MPV will compete with Innova," he said.

The company is also learnt to be working with the Hindujas on a small car project , smaller than the Micra. "There is a big market in that segment. We are in the conceptualization stage. I do not wish to comment on with whom we are working with on that project," Tokuyama said.

Component sourcing by Nissan from India for its worldwide operations is also gaining momentum. The company had envisaged $10 million worth components to be sourced from Indian vendors for its plants in Thailand , China, Japan and the UK. "For the last year we sourced components worth $40 million. For the current fiscal (ending March 2012), we will source $100 million worth parts," he said.

On Micra, he said that from July 2010 (when the car was launched) till March 2011, the company sold 14000 cars in India and exported 56000 units to Europe, Africa and Middle East. "Going by those numbers it might sound as if we are concentrating only on exports. For us, the priority is Indian market ," Tokuyama said.
The dealer footprint is rising . As of March 2011 the company had 32 dealers and this will touch the 100-mark by March 2013.