Nissan to launch supermini March in India by 2010

Thanks to the Singur imbroglio and the shifting of the plant site to Sanand in Gujarat, by the time the Nano hits the road in India, its competitors will be much closer to launcing on their versions of small cars.

One such rival is Japanese automobile company Nissan Motor, which plans to launch a supermini, March, in India. According to Nissan the March will hit Indian roads by March 2010 or just 12 months after the Nano's launch.

Speaking to the press Nissan Motor India managing director Shouhei Kimura, ''The small, next-generation car 'March' will be launched in India by 2010 in the 'A' segment category. The car would be manufactured at the company's plant situated at Oragadam in Tamil Nadu, though initially the car would be rolled out from the company's Thailand facility followed by India.

He said the development of an 'A' platform is one of various initiatives taken as part of Nissan's new five year business plan the GT 2012.

Kimura said, ''We would have a total of nine Nissan models by the year 2012 in the Indian market and this car would be one of the new models."

The compny says the March would have a local content of 80 per cent. Kimura said India is one of the five leading competitive countries for manufacturing and exporting the car from Nissan's global manufacturing network.

Last week the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ennore Port in Tamil Nadu from where the company would export cars. (See: Nissan to be first automaker to export from Ennore Port)

Kimura said that by 2011 Nissan would be exporting around 110,000 units, which would include this new model. Primarily the exports would cater to European markets from the second half of 2010.

Nissan also proposes to widen its dealership network in order to sell higher numbers in the country. ''We would increase our dealership network from the present 5 to 55 by 2012," Kimura said.

Kimura declined to comment on the timing of rolling out of the car from the other three countries. He also did not announce the number of cars to be rolled out saying it is too early to say.




The Nissan 'March'

The Nissan March supermini is being produced by Nissan since 1982. Since 1992 the car has also been made in Europe, the US and the UK. Outside Asia mainly in Europe and US it is known as the Nissan Micra. The last time the company gave the March a facelift was in late 2007. The next model is expected to be launched worldwide in 2009.

Starting with the K10 model in 1982 successive March models have been code named K11, K12 and so on.

The March / Micra K10 first went on sale the UK in 1983, and met with instant success. In 1990 the March was the eleventh most popular new car in the UK with having sold 50,000 units. It was a popular choice due to its ease of driving, solid build and durable mechanical components.

The second incarnation of the March / Micra was launched in 1992, production baing in Britain and at its Washington plant rather than in Japan. Like its predecessor, it remained a very popular car thanks to its fuel economy. However, it was available with a limited range of engines: 1.0 and 1.3 petrol units.

The car received a facelift in 2000 which saw the 1.3l engine being replaced with a 1.4 unit. This upgrade, after a previous makeover in 1998, enhanced the car's appeal and it was still fairly popular on the launch of its successor in December 2002.



The third generation model of the March / Micra was made at the Sunderland in the UK. It had a wider range of engines, including Renault-sourced 1.2 petrol and 1.5 direct-injection diesel powerplants, and offered an improved driving experience. This stylish, all-new Micra helped Nissan bolster its market share in the supermini space. The March has been among the best-selling 10 cars in Britain among private buyers for virtually all of its production life.

The March / Micra is known for its reliability, excellent build quality, and user friendliness. The K12 model that came out in 1990s received consistently good overall reviews, main criticisms being its lack of headroom and luggage space in the rear. Another criticism that came its way in the UK was from insurance company that rated it as a dangerous car in case of crash in 1988-1995.

However, its safety specification has improved with successive models. The K12 Micra came on top of its class in What Car? magazine's Security Supertest in 2003, passing both entry and driveaway tests and achieving a maximum score for its locking system and immobiliser.

In an independent test, the Micra was found to be more secure that certain BMW and Mercedes models.

In British magazine's What Car?' Reliability Supertest in 2007, Nissan ranked 6th out of 26 manufacturers overall, with the K11 Micra (1998-2002) being its most reliable model.

The next generation Nissan March (W02A) will be unveiled in Feburary 2009. Globally it will be based on a revamped B-platform with a new 1.2-1.3l engine.

It will be built in Japan, UK, Thailand and in Chennai, India in partnership with Nissan shareholder Renault. The company's US plant in Washington will manufacture an entirely new model that will compete in the same market segment as the March/Micra.

More 1 Lakh Cars Coming to Compete with Nano!

Tata Motors recently shifted its Nano project to Gujarat from Singur in West Bengal. It seems troubles for their much awaited car are not over as yet. The new electric car, Oreva E, to be launched seems to pose tough competition to world’s most awaited car, Tata Nano. The Gujarat based Ajanta Group recently announced the impending launch of another Rs. 1 lakh car in the India auto market.

Ajanta Manufacturing currently manufactures electric bikes in India which are quite popular and very successful as well. Now they will be making their foray in the small car segment as well. Ajanta has announced to launch their new electric car, Oreva E, in India priced at Rs. 1 Lakh.

"After registering a strong presence in the e-bike segment, we are set to enter the electric-car category," said Oreva e-car dealer Yogesh Tank. "In fact, we have designed the car to rival Nano. That is why Oreva E will be available within the Rs 1 lakh price range," said Tank. On the other hand, Jaysukh Patel, Managing Director, Ajanta Manufacturing Ltd. refused to comment.

Nano’s soft launch likely by year-end

Tata Motors is likely to go in for a soft launch of its low-budget car, Nano, by the year-end before hitting the road in a big way.

“Tata’s will launch 200-300 Nano cars by end this year, which will be the soft launch of Nano,” a vendor, who attended Tata Motors’ Vendor Meet, told reporters here on Thursday.

The company, which recently shifted its Nano plant to Gujarat from West Bengal, plans a major launch of the car during the second-half of the next year, he said.

The company spokesperson could not be contacted for comment.

However, officials of the Tata Motors a few days back had reiterated the stated position of launch in the last quarter of the current fiscal.

Tata considers all-new site for Nano production, protests at Sangur continue

After recent protests at its nearly constructed plant turned violent, India's Tata Motors is now heavily considering moving its production facilities from Singur in the state of West Benegal to the region of Karnataka in the south of India. Authorities from Tata confirmed the southern state offered 1,000 acres for the reestablishment of the automaker's Nano car production plant.

Prior to Tata finishing the plant's construction, local farmers had been protesting the arrival of Tata Motors for several years. They claim the automotive giant forcefully took their farmlands without consent and demand the return of their land. Government officials, though, say they can't return it due to it being already developed for automotive production.

In order to satisfy the locals, the West Senegal authorities offered to increase their compensation by 50 percent, but its was quickly refused by the lead opposition political party, the Trinamool Congress.

"In case we were thinking of relocating the plant from Singur he (Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa) would give all necessary support and assistance and incentives to make it happen," Tata Motors spokeswoman Ravi Kent stated. "We are watching the situation and actively looking at alternatives."

Tata had originally planned for its first run of Nano ultra-economy cars to roll off the assembly lines in October, but give the current situation, timetables have surely been delayed. Even with costs of raw materials on the rise and this latest debacle to deal with, Tata officials maintain the Nano will keep its 100,000 rupee ($2,500) price point.

Europe awaiting Nano car’s electric version

Though the fate of Tata Motors’ Nano plant at Singur in West Bengal still hangs in a limbo, nations around the world still want to see the cheapest car driving on their roads at the earliest; preferably in its battery-operated, environment-friendly version.

“I can say that alike other nations, entire Europe is also eagerly awaiting the commercial launch of Nano. But keeping in mind the adverse impact of carbon dioxide (Co2) on environment, it would be advisable to have Nano’s electric version. I hope Tata (Ratan) is working on it,” said European Commission’s Director General for Energy and Transport Matthias Ruete.

Emission-free transport

Talking to The Hindu during his recent visit to India, where he forged ties for cooperation in the field of energy and transport between the European Union and India, Mr. Ruete said keeping in mind the growing cost of fuel, electric (battery operated) engine was the only solution to emission-free transport.

Informing that European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has been working on a sustainable transport policy that aims at reducing of Co2 emissions and transform public transport, Mr. Ruete said decades ago the industry favoured combustion engine over electric engine as the price of fuel was never an issue, but things have changed now.

Moving backwards

“We are now moving backwards. And once we get the right battery technology for our automotive industry, we will be moving back directly to electric cars or indirectly to fuel cells or hydrogen-operated vehicles,” he added.

Predicting that in another 20 years electric cars will enjoy a good share in the market, Mr. Ruete said new efficient trams were being developed.

“I think soon logistics and delivery system in cities would be shifted to electric vehicles. More hi-speed trains would become integral part of public transport. The whole transport industry and businesses are working on developing new fuel-efficient models. We are also working on finding an alternative to kerosene,” he said, underlying the efforts being taken by the EU to reduce emissions.

Intermediate steps

Talking about alternate source of fuel, Mr. Ruete said bio-fuels or other source like CNG or LPG were only intermediate steps that can could work with existing technologies, but more comprehensive solutions were needed.

Stating that there was no necessary link between higher food prices and bio-fuels, though it might have a link in case of corn, Mr. Ruete said EU wanted that land being used for food production should not be used for bio-fuel production.

“We have to make sure that wasteland and spare land are used for bio-fuel production. We need to have an overall balance. We need to generate second generation bio-fuels from straw or other materials,” he added.

Tata Motors seeks new sites to make Nano

TATA Motors sought new sites for its cheap car plant yesterday after protests forced it to suspend work on the project, a crisis seen as a big blow to India's effort to attract investors.

The company, which became globally known when it bought British luxury cars Jaguar and Land Rover earlier this year, hoped to have its cut-priced "Nano" model rolling off the production lines and in showrooms by October.

But analysts say the launch of the groundbreaking vehicle, conceived by Tata chief Ratan Tata to get poor Indians off motorcycles, would be delayed by months if the assembly line was moved to other Tata factories in India.

A Tata statement late on Tuesday fell short of declaring the company was exiting Marxist-ruled West Bengal state in eastern India for good. But it would be "highly optimistic to think of a (swift) return to normalcy at the Singur site", a senior Tata official said.

The announcement shocked business leaders, who warned it would hurt India's image as an emerging economic superpower and viable investment destination.

Investor confidence would be "completely shattered", said Venu Srinivasan, chairman of leading Indian two-wheel seller TVS Motor.

India's most powerful businessman, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, has said the protests are "counter-productive for the country's economic growth, its global image as well as our ability to attract investments from across the world".

Not competing with Nano: Maruti Suzuki

Automobile major Maruti Suzuki India today said the company has no plans to enter the Nano car segment or become a competitor to the existing player.

"Maruti has always been in small car segment and we have always concentrated on that category of up to 1200 cc cars. But Nano is something which is a totally different segment and we are not venturing or competing in that segment," Maruti Suzuki India Chairman and MD R C Bhargava told reporters on the sidelines of the 48th SIAM Annual convention here.

On being asked about the decline in the sale of small cars and four-wheelers, Bhargava said that such kind of temporary downslide has been faced by the industry earlier.

"It won't take the industry long to recover and the market to stabilise. Certain external factors like rise in crude oil prices, the sub-prime crisis and

inflationary pressure has hurt the auto industry just like any other industry and if the oil price stabilises the entire affect will mitigate," Bhargava said.

He added that the upcoming festive season would lead to increase in sale of small cars.

"The festive season has always been a good one for the industry as sales tend to go up and we expect the same to happen this year as well," he said.

He refused to accept that sales of Maruti Suzuki cars in India has declined drastically.

"Maruti 800 and Alto are from the same segment and taken together the sales of the two cars have not declined significantly," he said.

Regarding the Singur controversy, Bhargava said one such case would not make much of a difference "it is very necessary for an important state like West Bengal to have industries. It is a pity that they did not go for the Singur project and we hope that the issue will be sorted out."

Orissa opens doors to Nano project

Hours after Ratan Tata threatened to pull the Nano car project out of Singur, both ruling and opposition parties here in Orissa on Friday have declared that the state’s doors are open for the Tatas to shift their much awaited Rs 1 lakh car project.

Unlike the conflict between the Left Front government and the opposition Trinamool Congress over Tatas project at Singur in West Bengal , both the ruling BJD-BJP and opposition Congress in Orissa spoke in one voice to welcome Tata’s Nano project.

“If they come forward to set up car project here, Orissa government will provide all kinds of support ,” said state Industry minister and senior BJP leader B B Harichandan . The state government would not say no to the small car project by Tata at Gopalpur, where the company’s huge chunk of lands remains unutilised, he said.