Japanese automotive company Nissan plans to plug in gaps in some more segments by launching new models, starting with Datsun Go from its group stable early 2014.
This will help Nissan make an entry below the current offering of Micra to compete with the likes of Maruti Alto, Hyundai Eon and Santro among others.
The automotive company sees as the current slowdown in the country’s automotive segment as a passing phase and expects sales volumes to pick up after the elections next year.
Kenichiro Yomura, President and MD of Nissan Motor India, said that the Chennai facility, which has an installed capacity to manufacture 4,00,000 vehicles per annum shared equally with its alliance partner Renault in India, has capacity to increase it by another 80,000 vehicles per annum. “We hope to ramp this up by next year as volumes go up. This will be by addition of people at the manufacturing facility,” he said.
Addressing a press conference here today after the launch of a new 3S facility of Lakshmi Nissan, Yomura said that the company has plans to add some more models in the volume segments.
Refraining to name any specific models, he said that this could be in B segment and in the sports utility vehicle segments.
“The launch of Terrano SUV has added to the excitement in the market and we hope to sustain this interest in buyers with new launches,” he said.
“Nissan hopes to garner a 10 per cent market share in the country’s passenger car segment by 2016-17 as it expands its product range covering new segments. Meanwhile, we will continue to export Sunny and Micra to other markets, particularly Europe and Midle East,” he said.
Last year, Nissan sold about 37,000 cars in the domestic market and expects to achieve a double digit growth this year. “While exports continue to be good, we are keen to grow the domestic market. The launch of Terrano earlier this year, an upgraded Evalia, Sunny and Micra range are adding to numbers,” he said.