Renault-Nissan rolls out one millionth car

Company in talks with the government to produce electric vehicle

The Renault-Nissan plant in Oragadam near Chennai has reached a production milestone by rolling out the one millionth vehicle. The company also said it was in talks with the government to bring in electric vehicles.

The plant, which is the largest production facility in the world for Renault-Nissan, started operations in March 2010 following a Rs 4,500-crore initial investment. An additional investment of Rs 1,600 crore was made to create power train manufacturing facility and tooling.

The plant has introduced 32 new Renault, Nissan and Datsun models and derivatives to its production line.

RNAIPL plans to roll out around 270,000 units this year of which around 120,000 units will be for exported this fiscal, said Colin MacDonald, plant managing director, RNAIPL. The Renault and Nissan Motor Company plans to roll out around 330,000-340,000 units next financial year.

Guillaume Sicard, President of Indian Operations for Nissan, said a third car under the Datsun brand will be launched this year and a new model under Nissan badge is also on the anvil.

He said the strategy is to scale up exports so that the costs are recovered fast while the car brand is built in the domestic market.

However, going forward the company wants to bring down export contribution, while increasing domestic market.

The plant caters to both domestic and international markets. Nissan is India’s second largest car exporter with more than 600,000 units shipped to 106 countries since 2010.

Annual production volume has risen from an initial 75,000 units in the 2010 financial year, to over 200,000 by the year ended December 2015.

Commenting on launching e-vehicles in India, Sicard said, “We are in touch with the government and working on the possibilities of bringing this technology to India. This technology is expensive, which means the government needs to put some incentives in place to support this technology. We are in discussions and the government is very proactive on this.”

Christian Mardrus, Chairman of Nissan's Africa, Middle East and India region, and former Alliance Executive Vice President, commented “our Chennai facility has, and will continue, to play a fundamental role in the development of our business in India. Today’s milestone reflects the popularity of Nissan and Renault products in India and export markets, as well as the skill and dedication of our staff. It is also a measure of the high level of support we have enjoyed from the Tamil Nadu government.”

Together, the manufacturing plant and R&D facility account for around 12,000 direct jobs in Tamil Nadu, with a further 40,000 in the Indian supplier chain, making an increasing contribution to the local economy.

MacDonald said that on average the plant has launched two new models each year across three brands since 2010.

The most recent model to be introduced at the plant was the Renault’s Kwid in September last year. This will be followed in 2016 by the third Datsun-branded vehicle to be sold in India.