As previously indicated by executives, Nissan has officially cancelled its four-year partnership in India for developing low-cost vehicles with Bajaj Auto.
The venture, which included Nissan’s alliance partner Renault, was formed to jointly produce and sell passenger cars with a price of less than US$2,500. It would be 50% owned by Bajaj, with Nissan and Renault each holding 25%.
However plans for a 400,000-a-year factory in southwest India started to unravel after the partners saw Tata suffer from weak sales of its Nano budget car.
The three partners began to have different views on the venture and disagreed over future passenger car strategies in India.
Nissan now plans to revive its Datsun brand as a line for emerging markets in 2014 with the vehicles expected to be priced from around US$5,000.