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Months after Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) exited a joint venture with Renault and Nissan Motor, the French and Japanese auto firms have got their car project back on the road, signing an MoU today with the Tamil Nadu government for a greenfield facility near Chennai.
Renault and Nissan will invest Rs 4,500 crore for the 50:50 joint venture unit, which is planned on 670 acres at Oragadam, near Chennai. The first car is expected to roll out from here in 2010.
The unit will have a capacity of 400,000 vehicles per annum. Most of this will be for the domestic market. Exports will commence four months after production starts.
Both companies refrained from giving any details about the vehicles they will make at the facility, but it is widely believed that Renault plans to roll out its small car together with Bajaj from here.
The MoU was signed with state government officials by Patrick Pelata, executive vice-president (products, plan and programmes), Renault, and Carlos Tavares, executive vice-president (corporate and product planning), Nissan Motor.
Nissan and Renault executives said in separate statements that the facility will produce compact cars for Nissan in line with Nissan's goal to start off with higher volumes.
The plant will employ between 3,000 and 4,000 people initially. Both companies will have separate assembly lines and powertrain assemblies.
The alliance will also open the Renault-Nissan Technical and Business Centre India (RNTBCI) in Chennai by March. It will focus on product and manufacturing R&D, as well as purchase planning and design for the Renault-Nissan joint venture.
"Nissan is proud to bring its skills and passion to India and we will look for suppliers who share that passion," Tavares said.
The Renault-Nissan alliance, launched in 1999, has grown from strength to strength, grossing combined sales of 6 million cars in 2005. Renault holds a 44.4 per cent stake in Nissan, but the companies have remained separate, autonomous units.
<B><font color="#000099">Nissan's Kimura to head operations </font></B>
NISSAN Motor has said that Shohei Kimura, now the company's corporate vice-president, will head the new Nissan-Renault facility near Chennai.
Kimura will relocate to Chennai in a few months to take charge as managing director and CEO of the Chennai operations.
