Nissan Motor India “is preparing for the future and we are busy working right now on the offerings for 2019-2021,” says Guillaume Sicard, President, Operations.

While 2015 was an “amazing year for the pace of launches” by automobile manufacturers, it was relatively uneventful for Nissan Motor, except for the launch of the Datsun Go seven-seater.

For Nissan and Datsun it was a year of consolidation, says Sicard, expressing confidence in the mid-term outlook. The Datsun Go+ was launched early last year and a completely new Datsun is in the offing before this summer.

Globally, the Micra driven in Rome, Paris, London and Istanbul, and the Sunny in Africa are made at the factory in Chennai, he said at an event to mark the roll out of the one millionth car, on Friday. With export of over 70,000 units last year, Micra is the largest exported model from India.

But it is still early days for the Japanese brands. Nissan and Datsun are among the newest automobile brands in India, while in the West the Nissan is three-four decades old. Also, the company had to weather the transition from using an intermediary for marketing, to setting up a network under its direct control. It is now in the process of expanding and strengthening this network, says Sicard, explaining why Nissan is taking time to replicate here its success in the western markets.

On what Nissan enthusiasts can look forward to from 2019, “It will be the best on offer — whether in body shape, power train or transmission,” says Sicard.

“Nissan will be taking a high-technology and up-market direction. Datsun will connect with a larger, more affordable market segment, while benefitting from Nissan’s technology.

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