Nissan Motor Company of Japan has set its eyes on garnering a 10 per cent market share in the Indian car market by 2016.
At present, it has a market share of just around 1.5 per cent.
Nissan has lined up a slew of launches, 10 in all, and hinted at expansion should there be a need to hit this target.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Toshiyuki Shiga, Chief Operating Officer, expected the Indian car market to be in the vicinity of around 4.7 million by 2016. Asserting that “India is quite an important market for us,” he said Nissan was gearing up to launch Datsun, an entry-level vehicle, in India. He also indicated that the Japanese car-maker would unveil fuel-efficient Micra, Sunny and compact SUV.
He said Nissan had already invested around Rs.4,500 crore in its Indian facility, which is a joint venture with Renault. The joint venture named Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd. has a production facility at Oragadam, near here, with a capacity to make 400,000 units on a three-shift basis.
Fielding a range of questions, he reiterated Nissan’s desire to be a major player in the Indian market. In this context, he said Nissan would beef up its dealer network to 300 by 2016 from 95. To a question, Mr. Shiga defended ‘double badging’ of a product on the ground that it was required to break into any new market.
Takayuki Ishida, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan Motor India Private Ltd., said the company sold around 33,000 units in the domestic market in 2011-12. He expected domestic sales to be around 50,000 units in the current fiscal.
