Sources said although a final decision has not been taken yet, Nissan and partner Renault have more or less agreed on having equal stake in the joint venture, in which the Indian partner Mahindra and Mahindra will have 50 per cent of equity capital. Nissan India Director (Marketing and Sales) Neerag Garg declined to comment on.
The joint venture had proposed an investment of Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) in Chennai for a greenfield plant with a capacity of 400,000
units in the first phase.
As part of its India expansion plans, Nissan will be introducing its premium sedan Teana' next week, which will be pitched against the likes of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, which are in Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.5 million) plus range.
Nissan will use its own independent sales network for marketing its products in India and ruled out tie-ups with other companies, Garg said.
The company will be rolling out compact cars for the Indian market from the Chennai plant expected to be commissioned by 2009.
Nissan had also entered into an agreement with Maruti Suzuki for contract manufacturing 50,000 units of compact cars a year for exports in the European market. Currently, it sells SUV XTrail in India.
