Japanese auto major Nissan said that it planned to enhance the capacity of its Orgadam facility near Chennai from the current 200,000 units to 400,000 units by 2012 and has undertaken a study for the same.

Mr Kiminobu Tokuyama MD of Nissan Motor India said that "We do have a plan. We are studying it right now. We plan to increase the capacity to 400,000 vehicles from the current 200,000 units."

The auto major in a JV with France based Renault had invested INR 4,500 crore spread over a period of seven years for the facility. In July 2010, the company had formally unveiled its first hatchback Micra manufactured at this facility.

After unveiling Sunny, their second product from the facility, Mr Tokuyama said that they planned to introduce a series of models from here.

On plans to introduce Sunny's diesel variant, marketing and distributor for Nissan vehicles in India, Hover Automotive, CEO Mr Dinesh Jain said that it would be introduced soon. He added that "Yes, the diesel variant will be introduced in due course."

Mr Jain said that the company has set a target of retailing 40,000 units this fiscal and plans to take dealership network to 60 from 45 by March 2012. He added that "From there we will take it to 100 dealers by March 2013, covering 80% of country."

Mr Jain said that the reports of Nissan proposing to pick up stake in Hover Automotive are speculative. He added that "It is a matter of speculation. We will continue to work together for the Indian market."

(Sourced from Press Trust of India)