The CEO of Nissan-Renault JV said that the venture likes to have the products made locally in order to reach large volume of users. As a result, Teana sedan and X-Trail SUV will hereinafter be CKDs instead of CBUs. Thus, these cars will either be made in the country or assembled, said the Corporate VP of Nissan. The company’s performance in last year was dismal with 200-300 cars due to the higher cost involved. Hence the company intends to make locally in place of import to avoid the duty on CBU of 110% whereas the CKD receives just 60% duty.
This move will reduce the price of Teana from Rs25 lakhs to Rs18lakhs and a reduction of 28% for X-Trail. Teana counters the cars in D segment consisting of Toytoa Camry (Rs22-22lakhs), Skoda Superb (Rs18-25lakhs) and Honda Accord (Rs26lakhs). Of these, Skoda Superb moves @290 units a month, Honda Accord 240 units, Camry 30 units and Teana just 20 units. For X-Trail (Rs20 lakhs), the competitors are Ford Endeavour and Honda CR-V. the company has by now understood that the major contributor for the growth rate will be the cost factor.