Japan’s third largest auto manufacturer Nissan Motor Co. and France’s Renault SA are gearing up to shift a large portion of their design and development infrastructure to India. Both the companies are trying to sail through choppy waters of economic crisis going around the world.
Nissan is also planning to launch a new line of small cars that will be designed and developed for India as well as the local market. The Renault-Nissan alliance is facing crisis around the world and the sales have gone down in India too. They have also delayed their production projects but according to the company sources, the project with Bajaj to produce ultra-cheap car will go ahead as planned.
The duo has Renault Nissan Technology and Business Center India Pvt. Ltd. as their research and development wing. Initially the company had planned to employ nearly 1500 people in five years but now it plans to shore up its engineering strength from current 1100 to 2000 in 2009.
Nissan Motor Co. had recently re-shuffled its top management. Renault Japan Chief Operating Officer Kiminobu Tokuyama has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Nissan Motor India (NMIPL) with effect from January 1, 2009. On the other hand Nissan Motor India MD Shohei Kimura has been promoted as CEO who will supervise the total Indian business.
