Posted on 14 Feb 2023
Renault and Nissan announced Monday they plan to build two new all electric vehicles in their Chennai plant in India as part of a $600 million investment plan, Kallanish reports.
The two new models, one from each brand, will be produced on common Alliance platforms. The A-segment BEV will be the first electric cars for both Renault and Nissan in India, building on the heritage of both brands in mass-market electrification, “which began with the Nissan LEAF and Renault Zoe more than a decade ago,” the companies say.
The investment in their Chennai base, in the Tamil Nadu state, also includes four new internal combustion models and R&D expansion. The new projects reflect the new long-term vision of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance unveiled on 6 February.
The production increase will boost RNAIPL’s plant utilisation to 80% and secure the roughly 15,000 direct jobs in the factory. The companies haven’t disclosed figures for the capacity volume, nor when the new models will roll out of production lines.
In addition, the partners said they will increase R&D and associated activities in the country, creating up to 2,000 new jobs at a site near Chennai. The focus will be new domestic and international projects, helping the companies to establish an international export hub in India.
“India was the first Alliance plant and India will be at the centre of this new chapter of the Alliance, with new vehicles, new R&D activities and new export markets taking our joint operations to the next level,” says Nissan’s regional chairperson Guillaume Cartier. “For the first time, the Nissan line-up in India will reflect our global power in high-quality SUVs and EVs.”
The Alliance partners said last week they will establish A-segment EV production based on the CMF-AEV platform in India and Latin America. In Europe, they intend to produce a C-segment EV from 2026 and a B-segment compact EV on the CMF-BEV platform.
Source:Kallanish
