Nissan India, Tata Motors expect near-flat industry growth in FY19

Nissan launch its electric car 'Leaf' in the next six months, Thomas Kuehl said, adding, all the models would conform to the BS-VI emission standards

Automotive makers Nissan India and Tata Motors are expecting a near-flat growth during the current financial year, company officials said on Wednesday.

"In the current fiscal, the automotive industry is expected to witness flat growth," president of Nissan Motor India, Thomas Kuehl, said.

In India, the company would follow the two-brand strategy of Datsun and Nissan, he said.

"While Datsun will focus on the volume segment, Nissan on the premium end of the market," he said at the launch of the SUV 'Kicks'.

The company would launch its electric car 'Leaf' in the next six months, Kuehl said, adding, all the models would conform to the BS-VI emission standards.

He said that Nissan India, which has seven models across the Datsun and Nissan brands, has stopped the manufacture of SUV 'Terrano'.

The company, he said, has invested nearly $1 billion in India.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors VP (sales, marketing and support) S N Barman said the industry is likely to grow by two to three per cent in the 2018-19 fiscal as against the initial prediction of seven per cent.

In the third quarter of this fiscal, the industry saw a degrowth of seven per cent.

"The last quarter is expected to grow by one to 1.5 per cent," he said on the sidelines of Tata Motors' launch of premium SUV 'Harrier'.