Nissan rolls out new Teana, Xtrail amid plans for 7 new cars

Like other carmakers, Nissan Motor Corporation too is banking on India to help shore up its bottom line. While five new products will be made at its state-of-the-art plant coming up in Chennai, two of its most popular models will be imported as completely built units.

While it so far has just one per cent market share with its two products launched so far - Nissan Teana and Xtrail, the company has re-launched the cars with new engines and a revised chassis and interiors. The cars are priced at Rs21- 25 lakh.

Its Chennai facility will start production next year and the company will launch seven new products by 2012. The much awaited small hatchback is slated for launch in May next year.

Chief executive officer and managing director of Nissan Motor India Kiminobu Tokuyama said at the launch in Mumbai, ''We will call it Micra or March. It's called Micra in Europe and March in Japan."

India will be the production hub for this car and will be exported to European markets as well. Nissan India has tied up with Hover Automotive India for marketing and sales. It plans to set up 55 retailers from the current five by 2012.

But it has made little progress in its joint venture with Ashok Leyland. After postponing the project by six months, the company is still optimising the investment plans.