Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) and Renault SA (RENA.PA) stated on Monday they would invest $600 million to make six new models in India, one of three markets in which the two automakers plan to coordinate closely in a remodelled alliance announced last week.
The move will help assist the falling market shares for the Japanese and French companies in a market with rising worldwide significance.
Nissan Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta told reporters, “This investment is very important not just on products but on technologies such as EVs to really capture the developing Indian market, which is the third-biggest market in the world, and also to utilize India as a base for export.”
The two companies stated in a statement that each would make three new models in India, all constructed on joint platforms – components and engineering that can be shared among designs.
Two models would be electric vehicles (Es), the companies’ first in India; the others would be sports utility vehicles.
All will be made at the underemployed car plant that the companies own together in Chennai, in southern India. They have a research and development centre there as well.
Beneath a new structure for their two-decade-old global alliance announced on Feb.6, Nissan and Renault will also cooperate closely in Latin America and Europe.
The two companies jointly had about 3% of the Indian market in 2022. Unlike Nissan, Renault does not have a notable presence in China, the United States and Japan, elevating the stakes for its success in India.
Industry-wide sales in India increased 23% last year to 4.4 million vehicles, passing the Japanese market based on S&P Global Mobility.
The Chennai plant can manufacture around 500,000 vehicles a year, but last year Renault sold just 87,000 in India and Nissan 35,000.
