Renault-Nissan to start third shift at its facility near Chennai

To meet demand for Renault Kwid and new Datsun

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is going to start third shift at its plant in Oragadam, near Chennai. The development comes on the backdrop of increase in demand both in domestic and global markets for Kwid and for new Datsun.

From this week, the plant will operate a new night shift on one of its two production lines, which will effectively increase overall annual capacity, said the company in a statement.

The decision will allow the plant to meet the accelerated domestic demand for the newly launched Renault Kwid and prepare for introduction of Datsun's third model in the coming months. The plant will continue to deliver the export demand for vehicles around the world including Nissan Sunny and Nissa Micra.

Till now, 12 all new Nissan, Renault and Datsun models have been introduced at its two production lines catering for both domestic and international markets. It may be noted, Renault has increased its production of Kwid to 10,000 units from around 6,000 units.

The facility, which celebrated producing its one millionth unit in January, is currently India's second largest car exporter with more than 600,000 units shipped to 106 countries.

Colin MacDonald, chief executive officer and managing director of Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL) said, "Increasing our production capability means we will be able to better meet the demands of our Indian and overseas customers by limiting waiting times on deliveries".

He added, on average, the Alliance have launched two new models each year since the plant opened.

"This is a testament to the skill and dedicated of our Indian workforce, including our supplier partners, who are not only providing a range of great products for our domestic customers but also showcasing Indian build-quality on the world stage," said MacDonald.

The plant, which is already the largest Alliance manufacturing facility in the world, started operation in March 2010 following an initial Rs 4,500 crore investment, which has now risen to Rs 6100 crore.

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.