Renault-Nissan Alliance, whats in the bag for the future?

Renault-Nissan have a global alliance and now the Alliance have launched the Datsun brand in India. This was the come back for Datsun, and the Japanese manufacturer struck back with this new brand to capture 10% of the total market share in India. The Datsun will have low-cost products that will have an almost completely localised content on it.

The Datsun brand will have three new products under its umbrella, and all will be launched by FY 2016. The first hatchback with the Datsun brand— Go— was unveiled a couple of days ago, and this will be launched by the end of this year. Nissan will introduce two more products under the same banner. These will be available in the existing Nissan dealerships.

The announcement marks the first all-new program developed from the ground up by Renault SAS and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., teams working side by side from inception. The program, internally named CMF-A, covers the most affordable category of cars in the Common Module Family, Renault-Nissan’s unique, modular system of vehicle architecture.

The CMF approach defines vehicles as five essential modules: the engine bay, cockpit, front underbody, rear underbody and electrical/electronic architecture. The compatible parts can then be assembled into hundreds of possible configurations, for maximum efficiency and brand differentiation.

Production of vehicles within the CMF-A scope will begin in 2015 at the Renault-Nissan Alliance plant in Chennai. Renault and Nissan will reveal additional details, including pricing details and product volume, closer to the start of production. Like all CMF categories, CMF-A offers a high degree of flexibility. Significant body style and powertrain variations can be matched to specific customer needs and preferences in India and other high-growth markets.

RNTBCI— Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India Private Limited— is the Alliance technical centre for “Frugal Engineering” of Renault and Nisan R&D global network. This is the centre RNTBCI is the base for adapting designs and localising engines for Indian conditions. The goal of this centre is to build attractive products that are high quality and at the same time even deliver on time and also cost effective.