Global auto major Nissan Motor on Tuesday made it clear that tie-ups with a number of car makers in India would help it serve the Indian market better. There is no question of overlapping, Renault Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said, adding that the tie-up with Bajaj Auto for ultra low-cost (ULC) car will remain intact. The company is in advanced talks with Ashok Leyland Limited for other products. The car major reiterated that despite poor response from its Mahindra joint venture, it will trim, redesign or modify Logan to ensure that the car gets its own life time and continues to be marketed in India.
In an extensive interactive session with reporters in Chennai on Tuesday prior to the inauguration of the manufacturing plant at Oragadam on Wednesday, Carlson Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer of Nisasn-Renault alliance globally, said: ?We have committed to serve the Indian market and we see there is a huge potential going forward. We expect that in next 10 years, the size of the Indian car market is likely to touch 6 million units a year from the current 2 million.?
On a question on Nissan?s tie-ups with various partners such as M&M, Bajaj and ALL in India apart from the one with Renault for Chennai plant, Ghosn said: ?We don?t see any overlapping. Rather we see gaining knowledge on frugal engineering and frugal products coming out of these tie-ups. We need to learn more from Indian markets, particularly on the frugal engineering side and each tie-up is meant for different products to market both domestically as well for export purpose.?
?If we need to offer products at the entry level, imports are not ideal and cannot be cost effective. We need to have a local partner to make our products cost competitive with most features. We don?t need partners who know making cars. Rather we tie up with those who possess frugal engineering and products portfolio with our expertise and technology advancements. Together we can offer wonderful products for both domestic and global markets,? Ghosn maintained.
?Both Ashok Leyland and Bajaj are majors in their respective fields and we don?t see any reason why we should not look at more partners in India,? he said.