Renault Nissan inaugurates vehicle plant in India

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With an investment of Rs 4,500 crore, Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd on Friday inaugurated a new passenger vehicle plant at Oragadam situated about 45 km from Chennai.

After formally, unveiling a plaque to mark the inauguration, Tamil Nadu State secretary for Industries Farooqui said "this project will not only provide for trade and investments but also for creation of job opportunities".

"Last year the state recorded nine per cent growth in this sector and this year we are expecting it to be another four percent," he said.

The entire 800 acres of land where the plant is currently situated has been handed over to the Automobile majors rpt majors.

Nissan Motor Company Ltd Corporate Vice-President Shohei Kimura said that the facility will have an annual production capacity of 400,000 and will produce vehicles for export and the local market for both Renault and Nissan.

"The new project is a tangible result of the strength and success of the Renault-Nissan alliance, and a clear indicator of Renault-Nissan's long-term strategy for this important market", he said.

Expressing eagerness to deliver their products through this new plant, Kimura later said that the first models are to be launched by 2010.

Initially, new generation entry level Micra and various new models will be produced on the new platform" Kimura said.

If required, they might double the plant's capacity in future, he said.

This alliance plant will someday be a benchmark at the global level, he hoped.

Elaborating about the utilisation of plant, Kimura said that 'stamping, powertrain facility' will be shared by the automajors, while painting of the vehicles, welding and assembly will be independent.

Referring to Renault's role in the plant, Renault India Managing Director Sylvain Bilaine said that there will be two assembly lines for Renault where one line will assemble Renault variants, while the other will assemble Logan variants.

To a query, he said that the plant capacity for Renault products alone is two lakh and a family of products on the Logan platform will be created.

On the company's performance in the country, he said that they have sold 27,000 cars in the first year of introducing the vehicle into the Indian market and currently hold a market share of 12 per cent in the midsize sedan market.