Nissan India turns to sports car, luxury SUV to build brand

Japanese auto major Nissan plans to bring in high-end performance cars and sports utility vehicles from its global portfolio to the Indian market next year to enhance its brand image in the country where it has struggled so far to cement its position.

The company, which is present in India through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Nissan Motor India, also plans to renew its entire product line-up beginning 2017.

"We have a plan to evolve our product line-up. As for 2017, we will have a renewal of all Nissan models," Nissan India Operations President Guillaume Sicard told PTI.

"I cannot disclose too much but we are changing the tone of our products, injecting very strong amount of style and also being very SUV oriented, because this is who we are and this is what customers want in India," he added.

In the meantime, the company plans to bring in high-end performance cars and SUVs as part of brand building exercise.

"We are busy studying on importing some 'halo' cars either on the performance side or the SUV side, so we are going to see such products coming in next year," Sicard said.

While he did not disclose the identity of the high models the company plans to bring to India, globally it sells various sports cars such as the GT-R, 370Z Roadsters and SUVs like Patrol.

The company currently sells models like Micra, Datsun Go, Sunny and Terrano under two brands--Nissan and Datsun, in India. Last year, Nissan launched the Datsun Go in India, marking the global comeback of the brand after nearly three decades.

The company, however, has received a lukewarm response for the brand in the Indian market and is now looking to enhance its appeal in the country.

"I think we keep on learning about the Indian market, it's a long process and can be a bit chaotic...we are working on developing the brand. We are launching innovative new products, we'll have a new product arriving next year that will also be a segment breaker for the value it offers," Sicard said on the Datsun brand.

He said the company is 100 per cent committed towards the Indian market and is ready with next wave of investment at the Nissan-Renault alliance plant in Chennai.

"There is one thing, that is 100 per cent clear and there is no doubt at all, that we are 100 per cent committed to the Indian market," he added.

The new round of investment would be on developing new products and could also be utilised to slightly increase the capacity of the plant. The Nissan-Renault Alliance has already invested Rs 5,000 crore in the plant.

"We are committed to keep investing in India and the second wave of investments is ready for the Indian market," he said without sharing details.

On tax refund issues with Tamil Nadu and reports of the company threatening to hold back investments in the state, Sicard said: "We want to invest in Tamil Nadu to keep on having adequate infrastructure. So we have been talking with state government for the last 6-9 months to expand the plant and to see how they can support us.

"We are coming to an agreement with Tamil Nadu government but there is only one little thing..we need to make sure that everything is clear to finish up the phase one of the investment."