Nissan launches mid-size sedan Sunny at Rs 5.78 lakh

Japanese auto major Nissan today launched mid-size sedan Sunny and said it aims to sell 12,000 units of the new car by the end of this fiscal.

The 1.5-litre petrol engine car is priced at Rs 5.78 lakh for the base model and Rs 7.68 lakh for the top-end model (ex-showrooms in New Delhi).

"We are planning to sell 40,000 units across all models available in India by the end of this fiscal. Of this, we aim to sell around 12,000 units of the Sunny," Nissan Motor India Managing Director Kiminobu Tokuyama told reporters at the launch.

The 10th generation Sunny is based on Nissan's popular V- (versatile) platform which is also used in the Micra - its first car in the country.

The Sunny is the second car manufactured at the Chennai facility, which the company jointly owns with French maker Renault, its international alliance partner.

The company sold 13,030 vehicles last fiscal, of which 12,000 were the Micra. It had sold 1,384 units in August, led by the compact car Micra.

"India is an exciting market for many global auto majors. We want to tap the opportunity. We will launch three more models by 2015," Nissan Motor Company Corporate Vice-President (Africa, Middle East & India) Gilles Normand said, adding the company is happy with the performance of Micra.

Normand, however, did not reveal the name and price of the upcoming three models.

The auto maker said over 85% of the components for the Sunny have been locally sourced, out of which as much as 40%  parts are sourced from Chennai itself.

"We are certain that the Sunny will redefine the dynamics of the sedan segment here. We have been able to aggressively position it, thanks to localisation in excess of 85 percent, which also reiterates our commitment to this market," Normand said.

The Chennai facility is expected to ramp up its capacity to 4,00,000 vehicles per year in near future. "We plan to double our production capacity from the Chennai plant to 4,00,000," Tokuyama said but did not give a time frame.

Currently, the company imports and sells X-Trail sport-utility vehicle, the premium sedan Teana and 370Z sports car in the domestic marketplace.

The company plans to open 100 dealerships by the end of 2012 from the 40 dealerships it has now.