Japanese auto major Nissan is looking at doubling its sales this year with the rollout of its first seven-seater multi-utility vehicle ‘Evalia’ here on Thursday.
“From 33,000 units sold last year, we plan to double our domestic sales this year to around 66,000 units while maintaining export volumes at nearly 100,000 units,” Takayuki Ishida, Managing Director and CEO, Nissan Motor India, told The Hindu .
Replying to queries on whether the company would need a new plant, Mr. Ishida said “the plant at Orgadam for now is sufficient. Either way, this has to be decided on first before we come out with any details,” he said. The newly-launched Evalia, which is priced in the range of Rs. 8.49 lakh to Rs. 9.99 lakh (Ex-Showroom Chennai), would be the company’s sixth model in India, and the third one to be made locally. The company is also looking at launching 10 new models, including the Datsun brand, in India by 2016.
When asked about the recent decision taken by the Renault-Nissan alliance to end the tie-up with Bajaj Auto over their low-cost car project, Mr. Ishida said that there were no “opportunities in the relationship anymore”.
“At this point, we just don’t see any opportunities in the relationship anymore. All business relationships come from needs, basically. This need is not there, and also we have to prioritize our relationships which we are doing,” he said, while refusing to comment further.
