Nissan Micra on track for India launch, Europe launch may be advanced

Nissan has said that its Nissan Micra or March project is on track, in India. The Nissan Micra will hit the Indian roads by early 2010.The Nissan Micra is known as the Nissan March in Japan. It is not yet known if the car will be called the Nissan Micra or Nissan March, in India.

The Nissan Micra would be available in petrol and diesel versions.

Besides the Micra, Nissan also has plans to launch four other models, by 2014. These apart, the company plans to set up a new Rs 4,500-crore manufacturing unit in Oragadam near Chennai in association with the French auto maker Renault.

The Chennai plant will have an annual capacity of 2 lakhs initially, which will be scaled upto 3 lakh by 2014.

Nissan has said that it does not plan to launch a small car that will take on the Tata Nano, at the Chennai plant, though it will work with Bajaj Auto to manufacture a small car.

After Nissan Micra’s debut, the company plans to launch a sedan version of the Nissan Micra in India.

The Nissan Micra will come with a new 1.2-1.3 litre (xh5) engine, retaining the HR15DE. The car will be built in Thailand, UK, and Japan, apart from India.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that Nissan may bring forward the launch of the Nissan Micra in the European market because of a slump in sales.

It expects sales to drop by 17% in 2009 due to a dip in the demand for larger vehicles.

It hopes that the Nissan Micra will fill the gap of a entry-level vehicle in its portfolio, thereby boosting sales.

For the international market, Nissan has launched its all-new Skyline Crossover, which is part of the crossover segment. The car is said to be a fusion of a coupe and an SUV.

The Nissan Skyline Crossover is powered by a VQ37VHR engine with VVEL technology.

Nissan is very bullish on India, and has built a a high-tech research and development center in Chennai, which has 1,200 employees.

The centre is working on engineering innovations that it will use in its worldwide businesses.