[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by ajmat

This is what the Nissan senior executive told me.

OK, if the figure is true then it is a commendable achievement. It 1.3 million Nissan Micras. Some how the production capacity and exports volumes are not matching.

[Rigid Rotor]

Originally Posted by ajmat

We were taken to the plant for a quick visit. Our movements were limited to very few places and pcuture restricted...
Some facts about the factory...

We were then taken around to three areas...

1: Body in white - we saw no automation, panels were hand welded together

Not Understood??..

Are these guys saying they are 'hand-welding' the body panels together or assembling the car with 'local talent' in-lieu of automation??
A bit difficult to digest, given the fact that the Duster has fairly even and tight panel gaps (and my duster after 10 K km appears to be holding far batter then some of my earlier owned home marque examples)

- Automation vs hand-building - for mass production, especially in this time and age??

And check out some of the other pics available on-line of their factory - appears to be a fair amount of automation out there.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

OK, if the figure is true then it is a commendable achievement. It 1.3 million Nissan Micras. Some how the production capacity and exports volumes are not matching.

Whoops, I tacked on an extra zero - 127000 is more like it. We would have heard about the millionth car if it had happened.

[vvijay]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Exports

[*]1270000 Micra's exported[*]$365 m parts[*]Nissan is India's second largest automotive exporter

Any idea as to who is the No:1 exporter in our country?

Originally Posted by ajmat

[*]2 production lines with a capacity of 400,000 cars per annum each
[*]Line 1 does the Sunny/Scala, Duster/Terrano, Evalia/Stile
[*]Line 2 does the Micra/Pulse, Sunny, Go (planned), and the CKD - Fluence/ Koleos/Teana

Are you sure about this? Both the lines do Sunny? Because I see a logic there as to MPVs and entry sedans come on line 1 and small hatchbacks and all CKDs go to line 2, each line having its own design to accomodate the size and assembly challenges met.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by vvijay

Any idea as to who is the No:1 exporter in our country?

either Hyundai or Maruti


Are you sure about this? Both the lines do Sunny? Because I see a logic there as to MPVs and entry sedans come on line 1 and small hatchbacks and all CKDs go to line 2, each line having its own design to accomodate the size and assembly challenges met.

Am sure, am quoting from the presentation slides that were shown

[himadrimondal]

Beautiful write up with so much logistic details.
I just hope all the ambitious planning streamlines itself directly to the customers.
Thanks for the insight, it would certainly help us knowing the company better.

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

The main issue with the Duster is the shudder of the engine when started. No solution offered. This is how it is - is what I was told.

Please depress the clutch while cranking the engine every time, there will be no shudder.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

Beautiful write up with so much logistic details.
I just hope all the ambitious planning streamlines itself directly to the customers.
Thanks for the insight, it would certainly help us knowing the company better.

Please depress the clutch while cranking the engine every time, there will be no shudder.

Thanks very much for the suggestion, will try it. Great if it works



Cheers

[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by vvijay

Any idea as to who is the No:1 exporter in our country?

It is Hyundai. If Nissan is No.02 then Maruti Could be No.03

[dhandapanik]

Dear Ajmat,

Few corrections here

Originally Posted by ajmat

[*]2 production lines with a capacity of 400,000 cars per annum each

Capacity of both line-1 and line-2 put together is 400,000 cars per annum

Originally Posted by ajmat

[*]Line 2 does the Micra/Pulse, Sunny, Go (planned), and the CKD - Fluence/ Koleos/Teana

CKD - Fluence, Koleos, Teana have a separate CKD line in the plant. They don't run on Line-2.

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by Rigid Rotor

Not Understood??..

Are these guys saying they are 'hand-welding' the body panels together or assembling the car with 'local talent' in-lieu of automation??
A bit difficult to digest, given the fact that the Duster has fairly even and tight panel gaps (and my duster after 10 K km appears to be holding far batter then some of my earlier owned home marque examples)

- Automation vs hand-building - for mass production, especially in this time and age??

And check out some of the other pics available on-line of their factory - appears to be a fair amount of automation out there.

Pic #2 and Pic# 4 posted by you don't belong to the Renault Nissan Chennai plant. The orange color equipment which is visible in Pic#1, Pic#3 are weld guns which are suspended. The guns are used by operators to perform the welding operation.

[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

The guns are used by operators to perform the welding operation.

Some how the automation level of Renault Nissan plant looks very low (by looking at available snaps). In my opinion comparing to this, many Indian companies have adopted better automation concepts. I am surprised to see the work in progress panel transport method adopted in the body shop.

While the low automation has many disadvantages, Renault-Nissan taking the advantage of it. They can produce whatever model they want in the same line with some minor set up changes.

[Ricky_63]

I did try starting the Duster with the clutch depressed, it was surely better, but the shudder was still there.

Thanks for the suggestion @himadrimondal

Cheers

[johannskaria]

An excerpt of Q&A session with Renault-Nissan alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn on the sideline of 2016 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS).

About Kwid.

Kwid was an instant success much more than Renault hoped for 1,00,000+ order book. And Renault is not able to meet the demand. As a result of the huge waiting period many have cancelled their bookings.
But Renault is ramping up the manufacturing.
The 98% Kwid localised in India was designed to cost from the beginning.
The platform Common Module Family (CMF-A) is going to bring more products with different design and different shapes – Sedans . crossovers even Nissan products (Datsun Redi-Go).The Kwid was a jackpot for Renault brand which has very little awareness in India.
If you can make it big in India, you can make it big in many emerging markets because India is the benchmark competitiveness for affordable cars.

What is the electric car for India?

Electric Kwid will be a logical consequence.

What did the company learn from selling electric cars?

The company underestimated the reluctance of the consumer to jump into electric cars due to lack of charging infrastructure.
And also the cost needs to go down, the electric car industry as a whole needs to be more competitive with the traditional car industry.
Even with all the government incentives, people still don’t buy the electric car in China because it is still expensive. (Happening with Mahindra E2O in India!). What is selling in China cheap is very cheap electric cars with primary performance. This is particularly the case in China and India and not other markets like Europe, USA and Japan. In the emerging market which are going to focus on emission the cost price of electric cars should come down drastically.

And the way of cost reduction the market is going towards is cheaper batteries, lower range and more refuelling which is the trend in China. The best test of mass market electric vehicles is going to be in the Chinese market.

Will global emission norms kill the 600+ HP cars?

Nissan sells 2500 GTR’s per annum , a nominal amount when compared to the millions of cars they sell globally. The mass market cars are the ones which will bear the brunt of regulations as volume segment makes the most difference in terms of collective emissions. There will always be 600+Hp vehicles till there is passionate people buying those.

GTR having an electric power train is not the priority for Nissan. But It will happen and perhaps it will be a trickle down from the Formula-E technology.


Autonomous cars Vs Driverless cars


What the alliance (Nissan-Renault alliance) is talking about is Autonomous cars , where the driver is in the car and decides when he wants to take control at the wheel.

There will be 10 models of significantly capable autonomous cars by 2020 in USA.

Driver less cars will be a consequence and Nissan is not very excited about it right now and the priority is autonomous cars. The technology of autonomous cars is going to be present in driverless cars too but in a very different way. But regulations in terms of driverless cars is going to be extremely complex. Question of responsibility is the primary concern of the regulators and is still being debated.

Autonomous cars is more short term because of the lower regulatory hurdle and wider usability both in developed markets as well as emerging markets. Nissan will keep pushing in that direction.
Driverless cars is a very future distant possibility especially in emerging markets. Road infrastructure, reliability of information, reliability of mapping, It would be extremely dangerous in emerging markets.

Autonomous driving from the alliance is going to arrive in waves. The main objective of autonomous vehicle is non limited city driving. Partial autonomy is the first step and new car equipped with this technology is going to be launched within this fiscal year in the Japanese market. with totally autonomous city driving arriving as early as 2020 if the regulators allow. And Nissan is lobbying for the same.

Source

[volkman10]

Highly upbeat on its super success of KWID, Renault plans more cars in the entry level and other segments it is non existent as of now.

It is rumored to being eyeing the Subcompact sedan (Dzire), the Subcompact SUV( Brezza) and the MUV ( Ertiga) as the segments to be targeting.

Encouraged by success of the Kwid that gnawed away an 8% market share in the entry-level car market from Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor, French auto maker Renault is preparing a product onslaught targeting key segment leaders.

In the works is launch of several models or variants over the next three years in the under Rs 8 lakh category, which makes up for more than 70% of India's passenger vehicle

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...undai/51804569

[bluevolt]

With success of Renault Kwid, the company is confident and ready to take on mass market selling cars from Maruti stable especially, WagonR, Swift Dzire & newly launched Brezza.

-> a Kwid variant with a 1-litre engine (the current car has a 800 cc engine) to take on the likes of Maruti's Alto K10 and Wagon R, Renault has started working on an evolution of the CMF-A platform, called CMF-A+

-> The modified platform is expected to spawn out a multipurpose vehicle, codenamed RBC, in the segment where Maruti's Ertiga is the leader.

-> A sub-four-meter sedan, codenamed LBC, to take on the Maruti Dzire and a compact SUV , codenamed HBC, to pit against the Maruti Vi inst the Maruti Vitara Brezza

-> The MPV RBC is more or less finalised on the design front, whereas the sub-four-meter sedan and SUV are at a conceptualisation stage

More details - http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...13042016007012