Renault-Nissan venture in India is planning to consider additional manufacturing capability as it expects to hit the capacity hurdle of 4 lakh units per annum by next year.

With both the automotive companies looking at India as next big business opportunity, they are looking at a much wider range of cars, including small ones, and these will need new assembly lines.

While Nissan has announced its plans to roll out small car in India from the Datsun stable, Renault too is looking at more options for India, possibly bringing a car smaller than Pulse. All these will require new assembly lines.

Takayushi Ishida, Managing Director of Nissan Motor India, said that the company expects to close the year ahead with total volumes of about 3 lakh units, which includes about 1 lakh units from exports. This will soon touch 4 lakh units, the capacity set up in Tamil Nadu with an outlay of Rs 4,500 crore.

"It won’t be long before we hit capacity hurdle. This will necessitate us to look for capacity addition. This could be either at existing plant where there is some possibility or new manufacturing base in India. We are looking at the feasibility," he told reporters here today.

The Japanese company is looking at a market share of about 10 per cent by 2016, and plans to launch a wide range of cars, including small sub Micra car, sports utility vehicles and sedans in the sub-four metre size, to tap into duty rebate.

"We are extremely upbeat on India and believe that the market is poised to accelerate even though the year has been sluggish. Therefore, we have lined up several models, including a compact sports utility vehicle early next fiscal," he said.

"The market for compact SUVs (like Renault Dustar) is rapidly growing. Therefore, we want to quickly enter that market," he said.

rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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