Nissan Motor India Private Limited (NMIPL), the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese carmaker Nissan is in the process of enhancing its Research & Development Center at Chennai in order to develop its first ‘made-in-India’ car. The automaker plans to double the number of engineers at the Center from 2,000 to 4,000.
According to Mr. Takayuki Ishida Managing Director and CEO NMIPL, the company plans to enhance the capability of its R&D center and set up new testing facilities which will allow it to develop new car models indigenously. The total time for the process to complete and the new car to roll out would be 5-6 years, i.e. by 2018-19.
The main aim of the enhancement of the R&D center is to develop new car products for the Indian car market as well as work in sync with the global research centers, stated Mr. Ishida. It would also play an important role in the development of the Datsun car brand which is expected to be introduced in India by the year 2014.
Currently, the Indian car portfolio of the Japanese carmaker includes the Micra compact hatchback, the Sunny sedan and the Evalia MUV which are manufactured at its Chennai plant.
