Nissan has ended imports of its X-Trail SUV and 370Z sports car to India to put greater emphasis on the models it makes locally.
Nissan sold 30,000 vehicles in India in 2013, for a market share of 1%. By increasing sales of locally made cars and adding new models like the Datsun Go to the lineup, the automaker hopes to increase its share to 10% by fiscal 2016. The imported X-Trail and 370Z were highly priced [due mostly to high taxes on full imports – ed] and annual sales were less than 100.
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The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Nissan would focus on sales of seven locally made cars, including six existing Nissan models and the Datsun Go, which is set to debut later this month.
Existing models include the Micra, the Evalia light commercial vehicle, Sunny sedan and the Terrano SUV which is supplied from partner Renault.
The Nissan and Renault plant near Chennai, which started operations in 2010, has a capacity of around 400,000 cars a year. The Japanese carmaker has a research and development centre close to the factory which is working to develop low-priced cars for the local market.
Between now and fiscal year 2016, Nissan plans to introduce 10 new models in India, including Datsun-brand cars.
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