Japanese auto major Nissan is poised to launch its premium sedan Teana in India next week, industry sources said.
The car, whose price is expected to be in the range of Rs 19-28 lakh, will be available as a completely built unit and compete with Toyota's Camry, Skoda Superb, Mercedes C-Class and the BMW 3-series.
"Nissan India hasn't said anything about the price of the product, but we are expecting it to start from Rs 19 lakh as it is a direct import," a Nissan dealer said. The company had recently signed a joint venture agreement with Renault and Indian automaker Mahindra and Mahindra for setting up a manufacturing plant in Chennai where it will have a 25 per cent stake. While Renault will own 25 per cent, M&M will own the rest 50 per cent.
The JV had proposed an investment of Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) in the facility for a greenfield plant with a capacity of 4,00,000 units in phase I. The company will be rolling out compact cars for the Indian market from the Chennai plant, which expected to be commissioned by 2009.
Nissan India director (marketing and sales) Neeraj Garg said the company will use its own independent sales network for marketing its products in India and ruled out tie-ups with other companies.
Nissan had also entered into an agreement with Maruti Suzuki for contract manufacturing 50,000 units of compact cars a year for exports to the European market. Currently, it sells SUV X-Trail in India.Powered by 
