After Bajaj Auto and Renault, it is Ashok Leyland for the Japanese car manufacturer, Nissan. Nissan is in talks with Hinduja Group’s flagship company Ashok Leyland for developing an ultra-low cost small car for the international market. Nissan has zeroed in at a price tag not exceeding USD 5000.
Nissan has already announced its plans to develop a low cost car with Bajaj Auto and Renault. However, the project is yet to come up with a solution for developing such a cheap car.
China would be the top market for the small car, where the segment is growing in a big way with about 2 million units. India along with countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia and some Latin American nations will be the other possible market options.
In India, the car would be competing with Tata Nano at the lower end and Maruti Suzuki Swift at the higher end.
India already has a number of small cars from some very established car manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Chevrolet. And this year is going to witness plenty of small car launches from newcomers in the small car segment in India including Honda, Ford and Volkswagen. And not to forget, Nissan is launching its Micra this year.
Nissan has a formal agreement with Ashok Leyland for making light commercial vehicles in India and apart from that Nissan also uses Ashok Leyland’s engineering services for various purposes. So it should not come as a surprise if Nissan partners with Ashok Leyland for its low cost global car.
The two firms had formed multiple numbers of Joint Ventures for manufacturing LCV’s (Light Commercial Vehicles), powertrains and developing technology, and setting up a manufacturing plant near Chennai. There has been some delay in setting up the manufacturing unit due to problems in land acquisition and so the partners have started producing LCVs from their respective facilities and plan to launch them by 2011.
All this and some more small cars! Bring it on, says India.
Nissan has already announced its plans to develop a low cost car with Bajaj Auto and Renault. However, the project is yet to come up with a solution for developing such a cheap car.
China would be the top market for the small car, where the segment is growing in a big way with about 2 million units. India along with countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia and some Latin American nations will be the other possible market options.
In India, the car would be competing with Tata Nano at the lower end and Maruti Suzuki Swift at the higher end.
India already has a number of small cars from some very established car manufacturers including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Chevrolet. And this year is going to witness plenty of small car launches from newcomers in the small car segment in India including Honda, Ford and Volkswagen. And not to forget, Nissan is launching its Micra this year.
Nissan has a formal agreement with Ashok Leyland for making light commercial vehicles in India and apart from that Nissan also uses Ashok Leyland’s engineering services for various purposes. So it should not come as a surprise if Nissan partners with Ashok Leyland for its low cost global car.
The two firms had formed multiple numbers of Joint Ventures for manufacturing LCV’s (Light Commercial Vehicles), powertrains and developing technology, and setting up a manufacturing plant near Chennai. There has been some delay in setting up the manufacturing unit due to problems in land acquisition and so the partners have started producing LCVs from their respective facilities and plan to launch them by 2011.
All this and some more small cars! Bring it on, says India.
