Nissan to set up assembly plant soon

Nissan Motor India, a fully owned Indian subsidiary of Japan's Nissan Motor Co, is close to setting up a manufacturing base or assembly plant for passenger cars in India, much of whose production may be exported.

Automobile industry executives said the first offering from Nissan's India base was likely to be fitted with a 1.3 litre, three cylinder, petrol engine.

A Nissan Motor India executive said the company's India plans would be unveiled soon. Nissan is the third largest car maker in Japan, after Toyota and Honda.

The Renault-Nissan combine ""France's Renault is the single largest shareholder in Nissan "" ranks fourth in the global market, next only to General Motors, Toyota and Ford.

The entry of Nissan in India will mark the completion of all major Japanese automobile makers having a manufacturing presence in India.

"Apart from selling the X-Trail, we have used the last few months in India to understand the market, its topography and consumer preferences. We will soon announce our plans for India," said Neeraj Garg, the company's head of marketing and sales.

Nissan Motor President & CEO Carlos Ghosn said at the company's annual media conference on April 25 this year: "In India, we started a new subsidiary last June and we are now studying options for further expansion."

He termed India as one of the important leading competitive countries and said the company prospects in India would serve as a global benchmark and help it to reinforce overall cost competitiveness.

Nissan made its China foray in 2000 by setting up a manufacturing facility to make 100,000 cars a year, which is now being scaled up to 250,000 units. Now the company would eye the second fastest growing market in Asia "" India, with a clear agenda of gaining volumes.

Since the company is finalising its plans for India, details of the possible capacity, location and investments are not available at this stage.