Nissan aims to become largest car exporter from India

Nissan intends to use its Oragadam facility, near Chennai as an export hub and aims to become the largest car exporter from India. Nissan exported over 1 lakh cars to Europe and Latin America in the last fiscal; that comprises mainly of fully built Nissan Micras, which is dispatched to over 100 countries. The Japanese carmaker has also started exporting Sunny sedan as CKD (completely knocked down) kits to Egypt and will begin similar operations for few other markets.

The target set by Nissan India is actually very steep, as Hyundai already exports over 2,30,000 units per annum from India. Also, the number of models exported by Nissan is limited when compared to the Korean manufacturer. With the current range it is almost impossible for Nissan to reach these targets – but with the introduction of low-cost Datsun brand things might look a lot different. Nissan hints at using India as a launch pad for recently revived brand, Datsun, which will be used in all emerging markets. The company plans to launch a car priced between Rs 2 to 4 lakh in 2014, which will first be displayed at the Auto Expo in the same year. 

The Renault-Nissan Oragadam facility currently has capacity to produce around three lakh units per annum. This will have to be ramped-up, as range of new models like Renault Duster, Renault Scala, Datsun hatchback will be rolled out from the same facility. 

If you ask, how does Nissan export helps India? The country get more investments, more employment is generated, more business for OEMs and better quality products as few of them are also exported to European markets.