30 October, 2007
Come 2010, car
majors Nissan and Renault, along with
their local partner Bajaj Auto, plan
to launch a US$2,500-car in India.
Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn
has been quoted as saying that the
joint venture hopes to start selling a
car for about US$2,500 by 2010. The
car will be mostly produced by Indian
partner Bajaj with the support of the
Nissan-Renault alliance. The three
companies have already decided on all
the attributes of the car, according
to a report.
Ghosn will meet with partner Bajaj
Auto in early November 2007 for talks
on the car. The report added that
though the manufacture a $2,500 car
for India was possible, the chances of
exporting the vehicle to markets such
as Europe, China, Brazil, Mexico or
even the United States may be a hitch.
This has prompted the company to fully
concentrate on making the car for
India and making it competitive.
The world's automakers are
increasingly setting their sights on
India, one of the world's fastest
growing automobile markets.
Besides the $2500-car plan, Nissan is
also looking at kicking off mass
marketing of electric cars by 2012.
This follows the increasing campaign
against high-emission cars and the
call for low emissions. The report
said that Ghosn felt that simply
cutting emissions by 20 or 30 percent
was not enough as people would switch
to alternative forms of
transportation. The electric cars are
seen as a solution.
