Nissan’s new Rs 2.5 lakh (US $5000) car in partnership with Ashok Leyland

Among all the discussions at Geneva, Nissan has revealed that it is studying the feasibility of a new car that would fit the gap between the upcoming Ultra Low Cost car along with Bajaj and the new Nissan Micra supermini. With the takeover of Suzuki by VW, it is highly probable that Maruti would stop supplying the rebadged A-Star’s to Nissan as the Pixo as a part of their deal. This could be a probable reason for Nissan which is looking at manufacturing their own mode rather than rebadging.

The interesting part of the news is that this US$5000 car might come up along with Ashok Leyland. “We believe there is huge potential for a car in the gap between the ultra-low cost car that Bajaj is developing and the Nissan Micra” said Colin Dodge, Executive Vice-President,  Nissan Motor Company. Colin Dodge also indicated that the US$ 5000 may be developed with Indian partner Ashok Leyland. “Our relationship with Ashok Leyland is growing and we believe there is an opportunity to develop a price entry vehicle with them” he confirmed. Nissan feels that India with its unique low cost base and frugal engineering skills is well placed to develop such a car. “In Europe or Japan engineers can no longer go back to basics and they have lost the ability to engineer products that meet the low end of the market. Indian engineers challenge everything from a cost point of view” said Dodge.

The car could look like the Nuvu concept unveiled sometime back. This is exciting news although Dodge did also mention that if the Micra’s demand in India is less, then they would probably export all of the produced units. Stay tuned to Wheelosphere for more updates from Geneva.

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