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| NEW DELHI: Japanese auto maker Nissan, which plans to launch its global small car in the Indian market next year, will start the first trial production of the product from its Chennai plant in November. "More than 30 units will be produced in the first trial production that will commence in November," a source familiar with the development said. When contacted a Nissan Motor India spokesperson declined to comment on the specific production schedules, but said construction of the Chennai plant was going ahead to meet the May 2010 deadline for launch of the small car in India. The company has already started trial production of power train in September along with trial run of the body shop. It is currently installing stamping machines. Nissan had recently revealed the sketch of its global compact car that would be produced in five countries, including India, China and Thailand, from next year. "Our first car that is made on this global compact car platform in Chennai will have its global premiere at the Geneva Motor Show 2010," the spokesperson said. The company had announced an investment of Rs 4,500 crore in partnership with French firm Renault over a period of seven years for setting up the Chennai plant, which will have an initial capacity of around 200,000 units, scalable up to 400,000 units in the future. Nissan plans to make India the sourcing hub for its compact car for Europe. It has set a sales target of one million units per year from this new global compact car platform by 2013. "The Chennai plant will start exports in the second half of 2010. We will export 110,000 units in 2011 to more than 100 countries especially, Europe (30 countries) and will increase to 180,000 units in the future," the spokesperson added. In the domestic market, Nissan had said it plans to have nine models in India by 2012, out of which five would be manufactured locally. Currently it sells only two models, the Teana sedan and SUV Xtrail in India. Nissan had said it aims to achieve a market share of 5.5 per cent in India in the future, which is equivalent to the global market share of Nissan. The Indian car market is at over 1.2 million units currently. |
| Spy pictures featuring the upcoming all-new Nissan Micra have appeared. Unlike in previous sketches this is the real deal. The car will be built on a new platform called the V-platform which is to be used on a number of cars including a small MPV and a compact sedan. Although primarily engineered for challenging roads in developing countries, the platform will be modified for western markets where refinement is emphasised. According to a report from Autocar, the platform would be able to handle a car of up to 1,600kg and 199Nm (147 lb-ft) of torque, meaning the biggest current engine possible is the 1.5-litre turbo diesel. Since weight saving is a major buzzword at the moment these so-called V-cars would use up to 18 percent fewer parts. For example the dashboard is built from 28 bits instead of 56 while the seats cut off 35 parts from the usual 85. Engines being considered for the platform include a 900cc and a 1.2-litre while most probably sporting turbochargers. Combine lightweight bodies with good torque and you have a recipe for great performance and fuel economy. A new CVT transmission is said to have been engineered which will improve driving smoothness as well. |
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