Nissan To Introduce 8 New Products By 2021
The Nissan Teana and the Patrol SUV might be launched; no immediate plans to foray into the sub-4m segment.
Nissan Motor India recently launched its facelifted Terrano, and has now pledged to launch eight new products in different segments by the end of 2021. Clear in its visions, the Japanese carmaker announced that the production of budget cars will be taken care of by its Datsun brand, while the parent company will focus on premium products.
Speaking at the launch of the Nissan Terrano, Nissan India’s President, Guillaume Sicard focused on the diversity of consumers in this part of the world. He said, there are people who have travelled globally and are looking for premium products, and at the same time, there are buyers looking for affordable cars for their daily commute. While Datsun will cater to the first time car buyer, Nissan will try to entice customers wanting premium cars, he added. Since there are 20 cars per 1000 inhabitants, India is a paradise for all carmakers. And, if it is able to manage the infrastructure properly, it could reap unparalleled benefits in the long run.
On the question of its plans to launch a sub-4m vehicle in the future, Sicard said, “We are very careful with our compact cars. Talking about Nissan, it is not positioned in the compact market. We want to bring in slightly upper market SUVs and cars. We want to position Nissan as a high technology brand. The future of the sub-4 meter vehicles is not so clear. In terms of taxations we still have some doubts. This is the uniqueness of Indian market and so being a global car maker we are looking at it and are very careful to what we plan as well. No sub-4 meter cars for Nissan, we might have one but will not be our focus. If the sub-4-meter rule still exists we will develop new cars under Datsun brand.”
Come 2018, Nissan will be introducing its first hybrid SUV in the country, the Nissan X-Trail, as a CBU unit. The possibility of the Teana sedan’s comeback and Patrol SUV’s launch is also high.
Presently, Nissan is manufacturing its cars from the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai. Up till now, the products rolling out from this facility are more of a copy-paste job rather than new products, with Micra-Pulse, Kwid-Redigo and Duster-Terrano. However, it now plans to bring in 100 per cent new products, which, while sharing the technologies of the French automaker, will be completely different in their overall look and feel. Furthermore, Mitsubishi will be joining this alliance soon.
Nissan is stressing on the fact that more cars in its portfolio isn’t something it is prioritising in India. Instead, it’s focussing on the right products which could sell more. With a flurry of new products coming in, Nissan might phase out the Micra and the Sunny.
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