Make-in-India: Nissan Motors achieves BIG milestone, exports 1 millionth car from Chennai plant

Nissan Motor India has reached a milestone of shipping one million cars to various overseas markets. Nissan vehicles are manufactured near here at the Renault-Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL) plant. The company is a collaboration between Nissan of Japan and Renault of France. Since 2010, Nissan Motor India has shipped vehicles to approximately 108 countries. Nissan's primary export market has shifted from Europe to Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Currently, the Japanese automaker sells models like Nissan Kick and Magnite in the Indian car market. Both the SUVs compete in the sub-4 meter compact SUV segment for the buyer’s attention, competing against might rivals. The models are helping the brand establish itself in the Indian market.

The milestone seems even more significant as the company recently announced plans to pull out its Datsun brand from India. Following the failure of its ambitious global relaunch of Datsun, Nissan decided to phase out the brand in Russia and Indonesia, as well as South Africa and India, which were identified as critical markets for the entry-level car sector, in 2020. Previously, brands such as Ford and Chevrolet withdrew from the Indian market.

Also read: New Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara prices LEAKED ahead of launch, cheaper than Hyundai Creta - Report

The company had already ceased production of two other Datsun models, the entry-level small car Go and the compact multi-purpose vehicle Go+. The Datsun brand will be phased out as part of Nissan's global transformation strategy, which was announced in 2020.

Nissan has stated that as part of the global transformation plan, it would stop selling Datsun vehicles in Russia and streamline operations in a few ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) regions. Additionally, it announced the suspension of manufacturing in Indonesia.

After being retired for 32 years, Datsun was worldwide revived in July 2013 by the Japanese automaker with the introduction of the entry-level hatchback "Datsun Go" in India. Datsun introduced two further models the next year: the Redi-GO and the little multipurpose vehicle Go+. The brand, however, was unable to stand out in the fiercely competitive Indian mass market for compact cars, which is dominated by companies like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

With inputs from IANS