Japanese auto major, Nissan, which is setting up a Rs 4,500-crore (RS 45 billion) car-manufacturing facility with Renault in Chennai, said that the project is on schedule and that its first car would roll-out before summer 2010.
As the production of Micra, the first car from Nissan-Renault, starts at the plant by the end of May, Kiminobu Tokuyama, managing director and chief executive of Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd, talks to rediff.com about the company's strategy for India, the recession and the auto sector in general.
Japanese auto major Nissan Motor Co plans to launch a $3,000 car (about Rs 134,000) in 2012 in India to challenge Tata Nano, the world's cheapest passenger car.
Force India stood by Adrian Sutil on Tuesday after their German Formula One driver was warned he faced an assault charge following a nightclub incident in China last month.
As other global car makers struggle in India to keep sales consistent, the Korean player has made a heady combination out of design, launches and localisation.
Nissan Motor Company on Friday said it has appointed Akira Sakurai as the managing director and CEO of Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL) and has made a few more changes in the management to establish itself as one of the major players in the country.
Companies like Volkswagen, Renault, Jaguar, Mercedes et al are planning models against some successful existing ones.
Giancarlo Fisichella vividly remembers how his decision to join Force India evoked sneers from his peers. But it took him just three races to embarrass the naysayers and the veteran Italian driver says he now feels vindicated.
Stunned Mexican Sergio Perez said he put in the best laps of his Formula One career to get Force India back on the podium on Sunday.
Sergio Perez expects to have his Formula One future decided before next month's Malaysian Grand Prix and said on Thursday that he is currently weighing up two options.
By all accounts, the car industry in India is about to acquire serious scale, as new car plants start dotting the maps of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttaranchal.
Maruti Suzuki India continued its grip in the passenger vehicles market in India with five of its models in the top ten best selling models in June.
Nico Hulkenberg and teammate Paul Di Resta will start at the fifth and seventh rows respectively on the grid as the Sahara Force India team had a decent qualifying session at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday.
Renault discard Giancarlo Fisichella and highly-rated German Adrian Sutil will lead the Force India F1 while another Italian Viantonio Liuzzi will be its another test driver.
Charting out ambitious plans for India, Japanese automaker Nissan on Tuesday said it plans to have as many as nine models by 2012 out of which five will be locally made as it aims to garner around five per cent of the market.
Fatherhood has changed Sergio Perez's life since the end of last season and the Mexican hopes the coming year in Formula One could be just as transformative on the track.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella says he joined the Force India Formula One team because he likes a challenge. 'I had other options at the end of the last season. (But) this was the best.'
The five door Nissan Micra is an A-segment small hatchback.
Force India's Adrian Sutil lapped quickest in free practice for the Italian Grand Prix on Friday while former team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was slowest on his first day as a Ferrari driver.
Carlos Ghosn, the iconic CEO of Nissan Motors and Renault, is on a whistle-stop visit to India on Monday to finalise a joint venture and small-car blue-print with India's second-largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto. Renault, Nissan and M&M also have a three-way equity tie-up to make passenger vehicles in Chennai, for which the facility is yet to be built.
Maruti and Hyundai favoured among used car buyers
Paul di Resta was pipped by Renault's Bruno Senna in the dying minutes of the Q2 session as none of the Force India cars made it to the top-10 in the qualifying session of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Italy on Saturday.
According to the Auto Component Manufacturers Association, the apex body of component makers in India, global sourcing of components from the country will double from $2.95 billion to $5.9 billion in 2008-09, and is slated to hit $20 billion in seven years.
7 Maruti models among top 10 best selling passenger vehicles in April
Champions Mercedes are chasing a sixth successive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth drivers' title, but the task looks tougher than ever.
FMCG, automobile industries say if GST regime kicks in, rail hubs can take Make in India to a new high.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
After GM's India exit, Ford-Mahindra 'strategic alliance' under spotlight.
Who says the snarling sports utility vehicle is only for men? Three SUVs battle it out to prove they are worthy of women's attention.
The traffic tells a story. During the lockdown, it took 45 minutes to zip through the deserted 35-km stretch from Chennai to reach the automobile heart of Sriperumbudur-Oragadam, where the big names of the car industry - Hyundai Motor India, Renault-Nissan India, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Apollo Tyres, and Royal Enfield - are based.
A car that gives you a better resale value will reduce the cost of your next purchase, points out Bindisha Sarang.
According to industry sources, Nissan will roll-out the latest generation Micra from the plant in May for the Indian market.
Force India set their sights on breaking into Formula One's top three at the launch of their new car on Wednesday and hit back at suggestions that they lack the budget to match the manufacturers in a spending 'arms race'.
General Motors India Vice President P Balendran termed the decision as a positive move for the overall economy.
As fuel prices rise, here's a list of cars that will help you save fuel and money too!
Honda cars has strengthend market share in India in the past five years.
The redi-GO will take on Maruti Suzuki's best-seller Alto, Hyundai's Eon, and Renault's Kwid
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The dispute arose after Nissan alleged that Tamil Nadu hadn't paid certain incentives under a 2008 agreement to set up a car plant at Oragadam, near Chennai.
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