New Delhi, India

Nissan Motor Company is working towards rebranding its India story with a robust business and product strategy for FY24-FY26. The company has had only two products in its India portfolio for some time now - the Magnite and X-Trail; and there have been no new launches since December of 2020. However, the company now plans to re-launch its CBU (Completely Built-up) business model here and expand its product offerings with prime focus on the growing SUV market. 

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The Magnite SUV, launched in 2020, was a runaway success for Nissan in India, surpassing cumulative sales of 1.5 lakh units till date. The company now aims to replicate this success with its new offerings. Besides the re-launch of the CBU business, the carmaker is working on bringing in three new 'Made-in-India' models by FY26. These will be manufactured in its Alliance plant in Chennai along with the Magnite.

One of these will be an affordable mass-market electric vehicle, Nissan's first in India. The other two will be a 5-seater and a 7-seater C-SUVs for which the company has already invested $600 million in R&D. Another $100 million has been invested in the R&D of the upgraded 2024 Magnite compact SUV, which has been launched at a starting and introductory price point of INR 6 lakh (ex-showroom). 

Nissan currently has only 1% of the domestic market share but going forward, it aims to triple this share with increase in volume. It is also looking to expand its domestic touchpoints to 300+ by the end of FY24 by entering untapped markets. Along with elevating domestic business, a major focus area is export. 

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The three upcoming models will also be exported from India to overseas markets in alignment with the company's 'Make-in-India, Make for the World' philosophy. "We are aiming for a 3X volume growth with the launch of three new models. These will be fully designed and manufactured in India and exported from here, making India an export hub for Nissan vehicles," said Saurabh Vatsa, MD, Nissan Motor India. 

With the launch of the 2024 Magnite in both Right-Hand Drive and Left-Hand Drive versions, the company has expanded its export market to 65+ countries, reinforcing India as a major export hub for Nissan. "Introducing Left-Hand Drive Magnite has opened up a whole new world (of opportunities) for us," Vatsa said. 

Speaking about Nissan's electrification strategy and other alternate fuel technologies like hybrid, Frank Torres, Divisional Vice President-AMIEO Region Business Transformation & President - Nissan India Operations, said that the company has all these technologies available with it but it has to study the market and accordingly analyze their time to the market.