Nissan to launch a new model next year

Japanese automobile maker Nissan Motor Company, which is targeting a five percent market share by 2020 in India, will be launching a small car, said a senior company official on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters here after flagging off the 500,000th car for overseas markets, Nissan India Operations president Guillaume Sicard said a new car will be launched in 2016.

He said the car will be on the same platform/architecture on which its French partner Renault recently premiered its Renault Kwid model.

The new model will be under the Datsun brand.

According to Sicard, Nissan Motor India ships out nearly 65 percent of the production out of India and going forward, the ratio of exports and domestic sale will be balanced.

Presently Nissan Motor India has two models under its Datsun brand- Datsun Go and Datsun Go Plus.

Sicard said there are around 23,000 Datsun car owners in India and the company would be expanding its distribution network.

According to him, the challenge for the company was effective communication of the brand.

He said the company was shying away from advertising though its models like Micra has some unique features.

For Nissan, India is not only key hub for completely-built units but parts supply as well. Nissan exports over 1,800 types of manufacturing parts to 34 plants across 24 countries.

Nissan India stands in the second position in volume of shipping parts within the Nissan world.