Renault-Nissan JV to invest Rs 5,300 cr at Chennai unit

Chennai, February 13

Franco-Japanese automotive alliance Renault-Nissan on Monday announced an investment of $600 million (Rs 5,300 crore) in India to bring six new products, including two small electric cars, and upgrade of their Chennai plant.

To introduce six new models, including two ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• The new vehicles will also include four SUVs with conventional engines, the first of which will hit the market by 2025. Of the six vehicles, three each will be for Nissan and Renault
• The alliance expects the fresh investments to create 2,000 new jobs in the country through additional R&D activities and it also has plans to locally produce electric vehicles in India

The new vehicles will also include four SUVs with conventional engines, the first of which will hit the market by 2025. Of the six vehicles, three each will be for Nissan and Renault.

The alliance expects the fresh investments to create 2,000 new jobs in the country through additional R&D activities and it also has plans to locally produce electric vehicles in India.

Nissan Global Chief Operating Officer and Member, Alliance Board, Ashwani Gupta, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Renault India Country CEO Venkatram Mamillapallee exchanged a memorandum of understanding with the state government-promoted nodal agency Guidance Bureau MD and CEO Vishnu Venugopal at an event here.

The two firms are also restructuring the capital structures of their joint manufacturing and R&D arms in India to make them equal partners.

The announcement follows the restructuring of the alliance’s global structure earlier this month, putting both Renault and Nissan in an equal footing, doing away with the earlier dominance of Renault.

“We are writing the next chapter for the alliance in India after the global alliance announcement we did in London about getting into the next level,” Gupta told reporters in a virtual interaction.

He further said, “What does it mean for us in India is we are going to develop, manufacture, sell and export six brand new vehicles, out of which four are SUVs and two are A segment EVs. To do that, we are going to invest $600 million or Rs 5,300 crore of investment and 2,000 more employment.” It will be a shared investment between Nissan and Renault, Gupta added.

In addition to that, the alliance will make their Chennai manufacturing facility to be 100 per cent based on renewable energy by 2045, he added.

Nissan’s Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region Chairperson Guillaume Cartier reiterated Renault and Nissan’s commitment to the Indian market and its electrification to minimise impact on the environment.