Nissan Motor India Private Limited, a completely owned subsidiary of the Japanese auto maker, is looking at increasing its sales by three folds to one lakh units in the domestic car market this fiscal. The company had managed to sell 37,000 units in the 2012-13 fiscal and is working towards bringing its 'no-frills' Datsun in the country, at present. Nissan Motor India would be looking to achieve its sales target on the back of new model launches and improved sales and after-sales service network.
As per reports, the Japanese auto maker would launch four new cars in the Indian auto market, including one Datsun model over the course of ongoing 2013-14 financial year. Nissan Motor India has affirmed the idea of opening more retail outlets and augmenting its marketing strategies in the country. Further, the first model could see Indian daylight by July this year.
Expressing his views on the company's growth prospects in the Indian auto market, Kenichiro Yomura, President of Nissan India Operations, was quoted as saying, “Nissan India intends to sell as many as 1 lakh units in the domestic market this fiscal, even as we want to continue to improve our exports performance from here, which stood at 1.3 lakh units last fiscal.” The newly-appointed Yomura is also the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Nissan Motor India Private Limited.
At present, Nissan Motor India's sales, marketing and after-sales service operations are handled by the firm Hover Automotive. As per Yomura, outsourcing of such services is part of company's strategy and can be witnessed in China and other West Asian auto markets. The Japanese auto maker is directing its energy and resources towards establishing a strong sales and after-sales service network in the country. Nissan is well aware of the fact that in order to achieve a successful business venture in India, it needs to win the hearts of domestic audience first. Currently the company has a share of less than 0.7 per cent in the Indian auto market.
Nissan Motor India is also planning to increase capacity of its Chennai-based Oragadam manufacturing facility. Speaking on same, the Nissan India CEO was quoted as saying, “As we expand our operations and hire more people, this could be ramped up by another 80,000 units”, further adding that company's other focus areas would be “more localisation of components, considering the cost-competitiveness of this market. Added focus will be on local manufacturing of the engines for the three models that are being rolled out from the Chennai plant.”
