Nissan India plans low-cost, locally made cars by '14

Nissan is preparing for the 2012 launch of Evalia that will be made in partnership with India's Ashok Leyland. However, the auto major says that its game changing car will come in 2014 – cars that will be launched under the Datsun brand. These will be low cost cars and Nissan says the cars will be made in India itself

"It is almost inevitable that you are going to make it locally. It is the only way you can reach the price position that we are talking about. Yes, not only made locally, but engineered locally," Andy Palmer, executive VP of Nissan told CNBC-TV18.

Nissan Motor India reported 98% year-on-year rise in sales at 3,138 units in May as against 1,588 units sold in the year ago period.

The sales growth continued to be driven by two of the flagship models – the Sunny sedan and the Micra compact premium hatchback, a company release said.

The Nissan Sunny, launched in September last year and produced at its Chennai manufacturing facility, has become a major contributor to total sales over the past few months, it said.

Since its launch, Nissan has sold 18,751 units of the Sunny to date. The popularity of the diesel variant has seen robust growth in recent months, a company press release said.