The Hindu Business Line : Nissan’s Ghosn gung-ho on Indian auto market

Chennai, Oct. 29 He’s a pocket-sized dynamo, bursting with energy and is naturally charismatic. Mr Carlos Ghosn, CEO, Nissan Motor Company and Renault, charmed the Chennai media this morning with his clear, straight and sharp responses.

“Le Cost Killer,” as he was dubbed by the French media for his ruthless cost-cutting management style, was here to sign Nissan’s joint venture with Ashok Leyland for producing light commercial vehicles in the country. At the end of the media interaction it was clear that Mr Ghosn was distinctly upbeat about the Indian automobile market.

“All the (automobile) growth is taking place in the developing markets and I think this is going to continue for a while...India is without doubt one of those which is going to be growing in a lasting way for many years,” he said.

Quoting statistics he pointed out: “Today, the global market for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles is 65 million units a year. Of this, about 45 million are sold in the mature markets of Western Europe, the US and Japan and 24 million in developing markets. In 1999, the global market was worth about 54 million units. Of this, the mature markets represented 40 million and the developing markets 14 million. So, all the growth is taking place in the developing markets.”

He said while the mature markets may be stable for many years, there would be “very strong” growth in the developing markets.

Praising Indian engineers for their “refreshingly frugal approach” to problem solving, Mr Ghosn said: “Indian engineers have to achieve more with fewer resources. I find this leads to a refreshingly frugal approach.” He took great pains to explain the unique strategy of forming alliances with three different players in India. “Ashok (Leyland) and Nissan will be working together for light commercial vehicles. Nissan- Renault-Mahindra is for the passenger car plant in Chennai and Renault-Nissan-Bajaj is for the ultra-low cost car that will cost no more than $2,500. There is no overlap between them”, he said.

A few hours later, Mr Ghosn was doing the same explaining in Pune at a joint press conference with Mr Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Bajaj Auto.

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