After a million meetings between the partners, the duo/trio has come to a decision on the Ultra-Low Cost car (ULC) which was showcased a year back. Renault/Nissan’s boss Carlos Ghosn said to the press that they have come to a decision on the project after talks with Bajaj but a formal written agreement has not been signed yet.

From what Ghosn said, it looks like Bajaj who is the brains behind the cheap sourcing of raw material and cost effective design of the car won’t be getting its badge on the car. According to the deal struck Renault/Nissan would take care of branding, marketing and sales. Rajiv Bajaj was not present during the Ghosn speech and was out of contact to get a quick comment.

Carlos Ghosn’s punch lines from the Press meet:

“I am sure that the cost of the car will be lower than any car made in India”.
“There would be no Bajaj name on the badge of the car,”
“We have a clear strategy now on who does what,”
“As per the verbal agreement between both the companies, the design, engineering, sourcing and manufacturing of the proposed car will be handled by Bajaj Auto, while its branding, marketing and selling will be done by the Renault-Nissan,”
“We are looking at low cost frugal manufacturing, but the price of the car would be determined by the competition prevailing in the market,”

This is the 2nd set of rendering of the next generation Nissan Micra, after Nissan revealed the sketches of the production model. The new renderings are from Auto Express and are better than the older renderings as more details from the sketch are included.

The Micra will have Nissan’s “V” platform qualities. The “V” platform stands for “Versatility” and has in essence efficiency in both design and production. The car will be weighed down with 18% reduced number of parts. The sourcing of the parts will be done locally up to 80%, both these making up for efficiency.

The Micra will be produced in the Chennai plant and will be exported to Thailand, Bangkok, Japan and Europe. It will be showcased at the upcoming Delhi Auto Expo and will be available in India by may when the production starts.

The car is expected to sport a new 3-cylinder engine which will be mated to Continuous variable transmission (CVT) which is nothing but a automatic gearbox. It is also expected to have the stop-start system. both the transmission and start-stop technology will help increase the mileage of the Micra.

click here for the previous entries on this story!

Nissan revealed a couple of sketches of its “Global small car” yesterday. This is the replacement for Nissan’s current small car Micra in Japan and elsewhere. It is to be sold in 150 countries and it might bear a different name in different regions. The car will be produced primarily in Chennai, Thailand, china and two other undisclosed locations.

The new styling curves suggest that Nissan has kept the design on the conventional side. This New Micra shreds off its girly looks, which was unique. This will be Nissan’s entry level car in India with production starting from May 2010 at the Chennai Plant and sales soon after.

Check out previous posts on the Micra here.

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A Japanese newspaper reports that the Nissan Micra will be launched in India as early as May next year. May of 2010 is the month in which production will start at Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai. We cannot confirm the launch date but what we can confirm is, the next generation Micra which is up for the Indian launch will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor show in March 2010.

It is expected that the Micra will sport a 1L engine available with two options. The first being a entry level naturally aspirated engine , the second is rather interesting with both turbo and supercharger working side by side to boost up its power. This second variant will have dual-injection technology (will have to wait for Nissan to explain that).The Micra is likely to be made in two more body types, a sedan and a multipurpose vehicle (MPV).

The Porsche boxter killer (well, atleast in india with its pricing) is soon looking into an Indian swoop in. “Nissan will launch its sports car Z370 in the Indian market and is expected to be rolled out in January 2010,” Hover Automotive India (marketing partner of Nissan, India), vice-chairman, G M Singh told reporters yesterday (26th Sep).

The 370Z is one of the globally renowned sports cars coming from the family of Nissan’s Z cars. The 370Z is technically brilliant with enormous list of features for a very less price of US$ 30k that’s a sports car for an equivalent of 15Lakh Indian rupees. But we would have to pay at least 30Lakh due to the 110% import tax, since the 370Z will be brought into India as a Completely Built Unit (CBU).

The 370Z is powered by a 3.7 liter V6 engine with a Power output of 332 hp with 370 Nm of torque. The Nissan 370Z has a 0-60mph time of 5.1 seconds. However, the car has also been tested by Motor Trend Magazine, who reported a 4.7 second 0-60mph. The 370Z is currently available with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

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Yesterday (Sep 16th) Nissan launched its super sedan Teana (which looks incredible gorgeous by the way) and the X-trail SUV. The ceremony was held in New Delhi. Both these will be brought in as CBUs and they are both priced between 21-25 lakhs.

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Press Release : X-Trail

Grade 250 XL 250 XV
Engine Code VQ25
Type 6 cylinder, V shape arrangement, DOHC
Displacement cc 2496
Bore & Stroke mm 85 X 73
Max Power Kw (PS)/rpm 134 (182) /6000
Max Torque Nm (kg-m)/rpm 228 (23.2) /4400
Compression Ratio 9.8
Fuel System Electronic Fuel Injection, Petrol
Transmission X-Tronic CVT (Continuously Variable) with Sports Mode
Steering type Power Assisted Rack & Pinion (Speed Sensitive)
Min turning radius m 5.4 5.8
Suspension Front Independent Strut
Rear Independent, Multi-Link
Brakes System Power Assisted, ABS + EBD +BA
Front Ventilated Disc
Rear Solid Disc
Wheels 16 X 6.5J Alloy 17 X 7J Alloy
Tyres 205/65 R16 95H 215/55 R17 94V
Overall length mm 4850
Overall width mm 1795
Overall height mm 1485
Wheelbase mm 2775
Tread Front mm 1560 1550
Rear mm 1565 1555
Min. ground clearance mm 145
Curb weight kg 1506 1537
Seating capacity persons 5
Fuel tank capacity litres 70
Trunk Capacity litres 488

Nissan India has planned to launch its new X-Trail SUV and Teana sedan on 16th of this month in Mumbai. Both the cars have significant improvements on the looks and technology from the current versions.

The soon to be launched Teana is the current model on sale in Japan and other countries. The new Teana has an engine choice of a 3498cc V6, a 2495cc V6 and 1997cc in-line four, all with a continuously variable transmission, although we are not sure which will ones will be available in India. The power output of the various engines are 134,182 and 251 bhp respectively.

The new X-trail is the one which was displayed at the 2007 Geneva motor show. The new x-trail has a new grill and has grown muscle all around the old X-trail to look refreshing. It now has a much smarter 4-wheel drive system and all the safety features you would expect. It has hill climb and decent assist.

There are two engine choices to choose from, a 2L V6 with 6-speed manual and a 2.5L V6 with CVT (continuous variable transmission). It has touch screen navigation system. It also has two cameras, one up front in the blind spot and the other one in the rear. The price of both the cars will bear the 110% tax since they will be brought in as CBUs.

Just when you though the Premium SUV segment cannot get any bigger in India.

We will bring more on this once the car is launched.

According to the statistics released by SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures), India’s car exports between January-July 2009 stands at 229,800 units, a considerable increase of 18% from last year for the corresponding period. China has recorded an export of 164,800 units during Jan-July 2009 which is a decline of over 60% from last year.

The reason for this mammoth take over might be the fact that India is fast becoming the small car hub for leading automakers like Hyundai, Suzuki and Nissan (which is soon to open up its shop). The other factor is, it is easier to set up export bases in India than china which requires the carmakers to collaborate with local companies as a part of the export deal.

The numbers from SIAM also reveal that India is the only exporter to have registered a positive note in the entire pacific ring. Thailand has registered a decline of 43% and South Korea which is the car exporting giant in Asia registered a decline of 31% at 1.12 million units.

The latest accretion comes from Renault-Nissan, who has announced that it is going to shift the production of its small car Micra to its under-construction Plant in oragadam, near Chennai. This plant will start production by May 2010 and will have an annual production capacity of 400,000. Nissan is planning to manufacture 6-7 of its existing model in this plant. Hyundai has already made its Chennai plan it’s Global Hub for manufacturing small cars.

Chennai has a market share of around 30% of India’s Automotive Industry and 35% of its Auto components Industry. The soon to come investments are big as well with Renault-Nissan, which will be investing a sum of Rs. 4,500 on its Chennai plant over a period of 4 years. Ford is planning to invest Rs. 2500 crores on its Chennai plant. Hyundai is setting up a new engine manufacturing plant. BMW is also looking to expand its Chennai plant’s production capability.

Hyundai, Ford, BMW, Mitsubishi, TVS, Ashok Leyland, Caterpillar, Royal Enfield, TI Cycles, TAFE, Dunlop, MRF have their manufacturing plants in and around Chennai. Like Renault-Nissan, Daimler is also getting its manufacturing plant constructed in Chennai.