Nissan joins Renault-Mahindra alliance to build 902 mln usd India plant - UPDATE |
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Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:24
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CHENNAI, India (XFN-ASIA) - Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co joined an alliance between its French partner Renault SA and India's Mahindra and Mahindra to build a 902 mln usd plant in Chennai, southern India.Renault and Nissan will together hold a 50 pct stake in the three-way venture, with Mahindra taking the remainder, the partners said in a statement after signing a preliminary agreement.The plant will have the capacity to turn out 400,000 automobiles a year, seven years after it starts production, according to the statement released in the capital of Tamil Nadu state.The 400-hectare factory will provide auto production capacity for each automaker, and enable the rollout of both cars and sports utility vehicles.Production is expected to begin in the second half of 2009.With a population of more than 1 bln, India has one of the fastest expanding markets in the world and offers 'important opportunities for growth and profitability,' Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn said in November.The Indian car market expanded by 68 pct between 1998 and 2003 to reach 1.04 mln vehicles in 2004, according to Renault.'India is a key market for Renault's international growth ambitions,' Patrick Pelata, Renault's executive vice president, said in the joint statement.Nissan joined the alliance to 'gain a rapid entry advantage for local manufacturing in India,' Carlos Tavares, the firm's executive vice president said.'Nissan was able to evaluate several different options for our first manufacturing base in India but the advantages of working with our Alliance partner and their local Indian partner was compelling,' he said.Nissan already has manufacturing sites in Japan, the US, UK, Spain, Mexico, China, South Africa, Thailand and Egypt.A range of automobiles tailored to the Indian market will be rolled out under the alliance, which will enable Mahindra to move into passenger cars from utility vehicles.'This is a red letter day in the globalization of the Indian automotive space,' Mahindra group chairman Keshub Mahindra said. 'The expansion of our strategic partnership with Renault to include Nissan is designed to bring world-class platforms to the evolved car buyer.'Chennai was selected 'for reasons including its well developed automotive and components industry, high education levels in its workforce, and its overall infrastructure including its port facilities,' the joint statement said.afp/net
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Nissan joins Renault-Mahindra alliance to build 902 mln usd India auto plant 