Nissan, Renault to invest US$600m to make 6 new models in India

NISSAN and Renault said on Monday (Feb 13) that they would invest US$600 million to make six new models in India, one of three markets in which the two automakers plan to coordinate closely in a revamped alliance announced last week.

The move will help address falling market shares for the Japanese and French companies in a market with rising global importance.

“This investment is very significant not only on products but on technologies like EVs (electric vehicles) to really capture the growing Indian market, which is the third-largest market in the world, and also to use India as a base for export,” Nissan chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta told reporters.

The two companies said in a statement that each would make three new models in India, all built on joint platforms – components and engineering that can be shared between designs.

Two models would be EVs, the companies’ first in India; the others would be sports utility vehicles.

All will be made at the underemployed car plant that the companies jointly own at Chennai. They have a research and development centre there, too.

Under a new structure for their two-decade-old global alliance announced on Feb 6, Nissan and Renault will also cooperate closely in Latin America and Europe.

The two companies together had around 3 per cent of the Indian market in 2022. Unlike Nissan, Renault does not have a significant presence in China, the United States and Japan, raising the stakes for its success in India.

Industry-wide sales in India surged 23 per cent last year to 4.4 million vehicles, overtaking the Japanese market, according to S&P Global Mobility.

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The Chennai plant can produce about 500,000 vehicles a year, but last year Renault sold only 87,000 in India and Nissan 35,000. REUTERS