Interview: Shouhei Kimura Ceo Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.

ZW: Nissan has had some legendary designs, and if we speak about recent wonders then the Nissan GTR does dominate thoughts. The Technology and Design Square event is a great way to showcase that talent here in India, but do you look at a more permanent avenue to promote 'design' in India? Kimura: Our Technology and Design Square is an extended plan for India. We will be taking the Technology and Design Square event to Mumbai as well. In fact we will be there on the 29th of this month to carry forward this show there. As far as a permanent R&D facility in India is concerned, we do not open our own R&D centers in the event of Renault already having a centre and since Renault is building a R&D centre in India we will just garner support from that operation.

ZW: How are the India plans shaping up?

Kimura: The plans are going according to what we expected. The plant in Chennai is coming up and we will be ready to commence production by 2010. We will role out a small car that is the successor to the popular Nissan Micra and we look to export this car to Europe as well. We also have a tie up with Hover Automotive Pvt. India Ltd in order to help us with our distribution network. By 2012 we look forward to having over 55 dealerships across the country.

ZW: One question that plagues a lot of people's minds is why did Nissan enter the Indian market so late, despite other Japanese companies already setting up shop here?

Kimura: We have come in at a time when there is a lot of catch up work to do. The key for us is to have exceptional products and do this quickly. Of course present global market conditions are a cause of worry, but we are hopeful of our Indian plans and feel that India, along with China, will work as a key market to help us tide over this period and also allow for us to catch up in the domestic market. Our new plant is flexible and technically we have the capability to make anywhere between 6-8 different vehicles, but the demand is what we need to establish first.

ZW: Okay. Speed is the key and you feel that the Indian market will hold up unlike the US and European markets, but this cannot be done with a single small car that you propose.

Kimura: India is big business and we know that. We already have the X-Trail and Teana in the market and soon we are looking at introducing the 2009 spec variants of both these models. We did consider bringing in the Z cars but have had to reconsider that option until we are sure of market demands.

ZW: Right, Nissan does have a name for its 350Z and now 370Z and of course the GTR, but Nissan also has some very nice SUV's like the X-Terra and the Pathfinder. Why haven't you considered these, for they will be more acceptable in the Indian market?

Kimura: Like I said, we have quite a few plans for India and most of them depend on the feasibility of the plan. The economic slowdown is really putting pressure on the company and though we still intend to achieve our targets, we are now solely concentrating on our small passenger vehicle and once that is out, we will then decide on what path to take.

ZW: It is my understanding that Nissan also has a plan for an ultra low cost vehicle. Could you elaborate on that?

Kimura: Yes, we do have such a plan and initially it was announced for a 2010-2011 debut, but now this has been postponed to 2011-2012 tentatively. It is however still too early to reveal anything else on this project.