Nissan's 'small' Micra to hit roads in July

Japanese car major Nissan today said it will launch its much-anticipated small car Micra in India in July.

"The new Nissan Micra will be launched nationwide on July 14, 2010," the company said in a statement. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Nissan Motor India, will roll out the new Micra from its recently inaugurated facility at Oragadam near Chennai.

The industry sources put the likely price of the base version of the hatchback below Rs 4 lakh. The company has earlier said that it will pit the new Micra, which comes with a 1.2 litre petrol engine, against Maruti's Swift, Hyundai's i10 and i20. These cars are priced between Rs 3.44 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh.

Nissan Motor India, which recently roped in Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor as brand ambassador, had started bookings of the car in end of May and has so far received 1,049 orders.
    
"We are delighted with this encouraging initial response. With the launch of the new Nissan Micra next month, Nissan will begin an exciting journey in India aiming to provide Indian customers with a full range of products and services," Nissan Motor India Managing Director and CEO Kiminobu Tokuyama said.
    
The company has announced to produce 80,000 units of the new Micra, for both domestic and export markets, in its first year. Nissan will export Micra to over 100 countries, including Europe, Middle-East and Africa, by later half of 2010.
    
The new Micra will be produced in five countries including Thailand, India, China and Mexico. The fifth location is yet to be decided.
    
The Japanese carmaker had earlier said that it was targeting to sell 1,00,000 vehicles in India by 2013, for which it will launch nine models in the next two years, including the sedan version of Micra.