French car maker Renault SA, which posted a USD 3.8 billion loss in the first half of this year, has decided to use the compact car platform of its partner Nissan to launch its compact car in India.
The move will help the beleaguered company sell compact cars in India without incurring huge product development expenditures. Instead, both cars will be manufactured at the Chennai plant that is under construction and will have common production lines and component sourcing facilities.
Renault and Nissan's decision to launch their own compact cars is independent of a tie-up with Pune based motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto to develop a low-cost car that is expected to debut in 2011. A formal joint venture agreement is yet to be signed among the partners though work on the small car is progressing at a slower pace.
This will mark the first time in India that two manufacturers are using a common platform for two or more new cars for the same market.
Nissan is readying to enter the 8,85,000 units a year domestic compact car segment with the launch of a five seater compact car by the middle of next year and plans three products from the same platform by 2012. Renault India will use the platform of the same car to launch its own vehicle, which could either be a sedan, a compact car or both.
Renault SA, France's second largest car maker owns 44% in Nissan Motor Company, Japan's third largest car maker and the Japanese giant owns 15% in Renault. The two companies, through their India subsidiaries, have created a joint venture Renault Nissan Automotive India which will operate 400,000 units per year plant in Chennai at an investment of INR 4,500 crore.
(Sourced from http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/2009/09/25/MTEzMzMy/India_to_get_Renault_car_made_by_Nissan.html)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
India to get Renault car made by Nissan
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