Yokohama: Nissan Motor Company's planned $3,000 (Dh11,016) car for the Indian market will increase the company's profitability as it takes advantage of its local partner's low-cost production techniques, a company executive said.
In talks with Bajaj Auto, "we discovered that their margin on three-wheeler activities is by far above our current margin on our four-wheeler activities," Gilles Normand, Nissan's corporate vice-president in charge of Africa, the Middle East and India, said in an interview in Yokohama, where Nissan is based.
The low-cost car "will contribute to our growth in terms of volume and profitability."
Operating margin
Nissan may post an operating margin of 4 per cent for the year that ended March 31, according to a company forecast, compared with Bajaj's 10.5 per cent for the year that ended in March 2009.
The Pune, India-based company didn't make a forecast for the most recent fiscal year.
The Japanese carmaker plans to introduce a low-cost vehicle in 2012 to compete against Tata Motors' $2,500 Nano, the world's cheapest passenger car, and take advantage of Indian expertise in low-cost production.
