Nissan, Renault to invest $600 million to make new models in India

Renault Nissan Alliance plans to pump in $600 million (Rs5300crore) in India operations over the next five to six years as it seeks to shore up its presence with half a dozen new models starting from 2025, Ashwani Gupta, director, representative executive officer and chief operating officer, Nissan Motor Co told reporters on Monday.

"Today is a great day for us when we are writing the next chapter for the alliance in India, after the global alliance we did in London,” said Gupta in a virtual address.

As part of the plan Renault and Nissan would develop, manufacture, and sell six brand new vehicles—three each, for domestic and export markets.

This would comprise four SUVs and two A segment EVs, he said. “To do that we are going to invest $600 million and employ 2000 more people,” he added.

The rebooting of India operations comes close on the heels of the partners of two decades restructuring their equity collaboration by putting both firms on equal footing in terms of shareholding.

As part of the deal, Nissan and Renault have pledged to pool more resources into key projects in Latin America, India and Europe, involving markets, vehicles and technologies. Nissan also said it would invest in Renault's new battery-electric vehicle unit.

Monday to restructure their two-decade partnership by putting both companies on an equal footing in terms of shareholding and with Nissan investing in Renault's new electric vehicle (EV) unit.

This aforementioned investment—to be made in equal measure by both the companies, in the world's third largest auto market, is very significant not only on products but on technologies like EV to really capture the growing Indian market, he stated.

With the move, Nissan is hoping to step up presence in a country where it currently has a marginal presence in only 15% of the addressable market. It presently sells only two models in India – the Kick and the Magnite and has less than 1% share of the competitive PV market.

The firm expects an entry into the fast-growing C and A segments to help in more than doubling its market coverage. The models—both internal combustion engine (ICE) and battery electric vehicle (BEV) will be made with high local content, he said. “Final goal is to have everything local for the local,” he said.

The companies “have graduated from cross badging. We don’t start with the product anymore, we start with the customer, and as you would have seen, we have a very clear brand distinctiveness, you will not call it a cross badge,” said Gupta.

The latest Micra EV announced in Europe, though based on Renault 5, is quite distinctive, he said, citing an instance. “All the six cars which we are talking about will all be distinctive, in all our shared cars like Magnite, Aria etc.

To be positioned in the A-segment, the upcoming EV will be a completely new EV and based on the company’s 13 years of experience of design, development and manufacturing and selling of battery electric cars such as Leaf and other models around the world.

According to Gupta, BEV will be a key strategic pillar for electrification growth in India and not hybrid. Even as Nissan has capabilities in both EV and hybrid, the company has been adopting varied powertrain mix in each of the markets depending on the local regulation and customer preference. “In India, the priority for Nissan is to bring battery electric, this is where India is going forward,” said Gupta.