Nissan India’s CEO has been quoted by a local financial daily as stating that the Renault Duster is being considered as the basis for a locally-built SUV.
Takayuki Ishida, MD and CEO of Nissan Motor India told the Hindu Business Line, “We’re interested in the SUV market, and we need to have a good product. Globally, we have a lot of choice. But to arrive at a good price range, we would need to localise. Using the Duster platform is one of the options we are looking at.”
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The newspaper claims that Renault has taken some 10,000 orders since it launched the locally-built Duster launch last month. The vehicle uses a modified version of the Renault B-Zero architecture, as introduced by the Dacia Logan in 2005.
“From the Nissan headquarters some people came and talked to some local Governments and discussed plans to invest. This is something we always do. Currently, we have about 400,000 [units of annual] capacity at the Chennai plant. Right now, we’re preparing to start the third shift,” Ishida added.
The Renault-Nissan Alliance’s production complex at Oragadam (Chennai) builds or assembles the Renault Duster SUV, Nissan Micra hatchback and its Renault Pulse twin, the Renault Fluence sedan, the Renault Koleos SUV, and the Nissan Sunny sedan (Renault Scala twin to follow from late 2012). Datsun vehicles will also be sold in India from 2014 and are expected to be locally-built.
Author: Glenn Brooks
