Nissan launches first product from Oragadam plant

The Rs 4,500 crore plant is the first to produce the vehicle

Japanese automajor Nissan on Tuesday rolled out its first product under the Datsun brand - Datsun Go - from the Renault-Nissan Alliance Plant at Oragadam, near Chennai. The brand is expected to clock 50 per cent of the overall sales of Nissan by 2016. To meet the demand, the company may look at expanding its facility in the existing location or would look at new places.

The Datsun brand will focus on the low-cost hatchback segment, which is currently dominated by Hyundai and Maruti. The company has decided to price the vehicles, including two new variants which are expected to be launched in the next 36 months, at less than Rs 4 lakh, said Vincent Cobee, corporate vice-president of Datsun business unit at Nissan Motor Company.

He added that the product will be available for sales from March this year and bookings are expected to start this month. Localisation is almost 100 per cent.

The Oragadam plant, around 50 km from Chennai, is the first factory anywhere in the world to resume production of Datsun models. The Rs 4,500-crore plant was set up by French auto major Renault and Nissan.

“For now, the capacity of the plant is sufficient; going forward, it may not. We are currently discussing whether the expansion can happen in the existing location or look at new location,” said Cobee.

The facility has a production capacity of 400,000 units, which can be expanded to 480,000 units. Nissan’s Micra, Micra Active, Sunny, Evalia and Terrano are produced from here. So are Renault’s Koleous, Fluence, Pulse, Scala and Duster. The facility, spread over in 640 acres, have cumulatively produced 600,000 units, including 370,000 units for export markets.

“We are not looking at exporting Datsun currently,” said Cobee.

While declining to comment on the sales target, he said that globally, by end-2016, the company set a target to sell 300,00 units of Datsun. "Our (Nissan's) target is to capture 10 per cent of the market by 2016 and 50 per cent of which would come from Datsun brand," he said.

Cobee noted that global market size of cars was 50 million in 2000 and 80 per cent of which was contributed by Europe, the US and east Asia. By 2020, the market is expected to double and two-third will be outside the historic western markets, which is currently stagnated.

Toshiyuki Shiga, vice-chairman, Nissan Motor Company, commented: “It represents the culmination of several years of hard work to bring back the brand. The next chapter of success is written here.” He added India has reported a remarkable growth for the company. Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd reported a sales of 36,975 units in FY13.

Datsun originated in Japan as DAT-GO almost a century ago in 1914. However, it was not in the market for the last three decades. Nissan decided to re-launch this brand, focussing on the middle class in the emerging markets.

Datsun GO was premiered in Delhi in July 2013. The philosophy of the product will be to combine Nissan's global know-how with local knowledge across development and production.

By building the vehicle here, Datsun benefits from the combined expertise of the Renaul- Nissan Alliance using the latest manufacturing, engineering and development processes.

Oragadam will be followed by local production of Datsun models in other markets including Indonesia and Russia later this year.

 

Facts about Oragadam plant

• The Renault Nissan Alliance Plant was inaugurated in 2010, just 21 months after the ground breaking ceremony in 2008
• Rs 4,500 was invested by the Alliance partners to set up this 4 lakh capacity plant
• Six lakh vehicles manufactured till now, of which 3.70 lakh units were exported to over 100 countries