Nissan Indian is getting aggressive in the Indian market and now plans to launch an affordable car for India which will be part of the sub-Rs 3 lakh category, according to Mr Andy Palmer, Executive Vice-President.
“We will look at an affordable car without a doubt. There are several sub-segments (under the Rs 3-lakh space) and we have ambitions to traverse as many of those as practically possible.”
“The vision is more than mature but what I cannot tell you is the time of launch. We have a very competent engineering capability in Chennai and will be foolish not to use it,” Mr Palmer added.
By now, we all know that the RE60 has nothing to do with Nissan or being a rival to the Tata Nano. Now, Nissan plans to come up with a small hatchback to rival A segment cars like the Eon, Santro, Alto and Spark.
The Jap manufacturer will go ahead with its plan either on its own or through the alliance with Renault. It may be noted that recently, Renault ‘borrowed’ the Nissan Micra to spawn a Pulse out of it. News is that Renault too is busy working on a hatchback for the aforementioned segment. Hence, the JV should benefit both the car makers with the development of the product. The upcoming car should be manufactured jointly and also sold in other global markets.
After the surprise that Bajaj recently threw (read: RE 60), we are eagerly waiting for the JV to come out with their take on the small car for it might be the next big thing.