February 25th, 2023: Why this investment? What are their plans? Read to know.
Renault-Nissan alliance has announced a new long term strategy for the Indian market. The alliance will now invest in R&D (Research and Development), electric vehicles and production. Renault-Nissan plans to invest Rs 5300 crores in India for its upcoming planned projects. The alliance will release six new vehicles and among the six, two would be electric vehicles. The investment will also be distributed in the Renault-Nissan factory in Chennai to upgrade it into an international export hub.
Renault and Nissan will launch three new vehicles each which will be assembled and manufactured in Chennai. Renault-Nissan will have four C-segment SUVs (C-segment refers to the medium sized cars) and two A-segment (Smallest cars which are legally registered) electric cars. This new tactic is to focus on top grade SUVs and electric vehicles in the market.
Ashwani Gupta, representative executive officer & COO, Nissan Motor Co, saw that Nissan’s strength is its SUVs and more than 50% of company’s sales comes from this segment. Gupta mentioned, “Magnite is a classic example in India and where we are missing today are in the A and C segments. We will be doubling our market coverage there.”
For the new investment, a MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding is a type of agreement between two parties which expresses each party's intentions to take action, conduct a business transaction, or form a new partnership. It describes a common objective or goal of all the members of the parties involved) was signed in the presence of MK Stalin (Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu). Since Renault-Nissan is targeting a higher rate of production and R&D activities, this will generate up to 2,000 new jobs which will add up to the current workforce of 15,000.
Renault-Nissan also aims to fully convert itself to 100% renewable energy. Presently, the factory operates with 50% of renewable energy in the form of solar, wind and biomass. The solar plant will also increase by six times in size, expanding to 14MW (Megawatt) from 2.2MW.