By IANS,
Chennai : The Franco-Japanese joint venture, Renault Nissan Automotive India, Monday started commercial production of its compact car Micra for which the domestic sales would begin from July and exports from September.
The Micra will be competing with Hyundai Motor’s i10 and i20, and Ford India’s Figo.
As the first car rolled out of the plant near here, Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said: “In an exponentially growing and challenging Indian automobile industry, we are introducing a product that has been specifically designed keeping in mind the discerning consumer needs of India.”
The India-made Micra will also be supplied to strategic markets such as Europe, Middle East and Africa, he said.
According to Nissan Motor India, Nissan’s Indian subsidiary, the car will be displayed in dealer showrooms from Tuesday and the pre-order booking will be started with an initial amount of Rs.50,000.
Company Officials, however, declined to specify the actual price of the car or the approximate price band saying that the price is yet to be fixed.
During the current year more than 80,000 units are expected to be produced.
Renault Nissan Automotive is an equal joint venture between Renault of France and Nissan Motor Company of Japan.