'Making new Micra in Europe won't hit Chennai ops'

Nissan Motor's decision to manufacture the next generation of the Micra model at a Renault plant in France will not affect its Chennai operations, the Japanese car maker said.

"We can confirm that the Renault-Nissan alliance plant in Chennai will continue to produce both the current Micra model, and the next Micra from 2016," said Trevor Mann, executive vice-president and chairman of the management committee, Africa, Middle East, India and Europe of Nissan.

Additionally, consistent with Nissan's plans to introduce 10 new models in India during its mid-term business plan period, and plans beyond that, the Chennai facility will continue to run at full production capacity. "There is therefore no impact on Nissan's current and future operations in India," Mann added.

On Friday, Nissan said it would make the new Micra at Renault's Flins plant in France for exports within Europe from 2016.

Driven by sales and share expansion across Europe and Russia, Nissan's manufacturing capacity in Europe and India will be fully utilised in the mid-term period, the company had said.

The decision to make the vehicle at Renault's European plant will benefit Nissan in several ways, including capital expense reduction, foreign exchange exposure reduction and working capital reduction through shorter supply chains.

The Nissan Micra, also sold under the March name in certain markets, is one of the company's most recognised products. As a global vehicle, the next generation of Micra will continue to be manufactured outside of Europe, consistent with Nissan's optimised global sourcing strategy, the company said.