Chennai: Car maker Nissan Motor India is buoyant about the export market and plans to ship out over 8,000 Datsun and 65,000 Sunny cars till next year, said a top official of Renault Nissan Alliance India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL).
He also dismissed speculations about Nissan phasing out the Datsun brand.
“We will be exporting over 8,000 units of Datsun GO CVT and GO+ CVT this year and plans are there to ship out similar numbers next year as well,” Biju Balendran, Managing Director & CEO, RNAIPL told IANS.
“In January/February 2020, Datsun Redi GO with BS VI complaint engine will be launched. It will have an entirely new look and a sizeable investment has been made for that,” Balendran said.
On Sunny export numbers he said: “We began this year with a plan to export about 22,000 Sunny. And, the order has grown to over 65,000. A similar number is expected next year.”
Nissan India ships out its cars, engine and components to the Middle East, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Brazil, Egypt, Sub Saharan countries and Nepal.
According to Balendran, exports of Nissan’s sports utility vehicle (SUV) have also begun.
Queried about the higher exports out of India, Balendran said the Indian plant is very cost competitive as compared to other plants and the markets served by the company are also doing well in the respective segments.
The slowdown in automobile industry in India did not seem to have affected RNAIPL.
Balendran said last year RNAIPL had rolled out 1,82,000 units and this year the production numbers is expected to be about 2,10,000 owing to the strong export orders.