The Japanese car maker is to roll out at least eight new models from its Rs 4,500 crore Chennai plant, which has a production capacity of 400,000 units a year, by 2012. Five of these models are meant for the Indian market. Nissan will also launch newer versions of its two existing models, the X-Trail SUV and the Teana saloon.

In a bid to increase its dealership presence across India, the company has outsourced the entire sales and marketing of Nissan cars to Hover Automotive India which will act as Nissan’s national sales company. It will be the service partner for marketing, sales, after-sales service and dealer development in India.

Nissan's existing dealer network is at present restricted to five dealerships in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Hover Automotive

India’s vice-chairman G M Singh says, “Our association with Nissan began in September 2007. We have spent a lot of time understanding Japanese culture and it’s now time to present those values here in India.”

Dealership gameplan

By 2012 Nissan plans to have 55 dealerships but at least 11-14 dealerships will be in place before the Nissan cars roll out in 2010. These dealerships will be in the five metros and also Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Kochi, By end-2011, the number of will grow to 30-35 and 55 by 2012. In the second phase, Nissan will cover B-towns, informs Singh.

As per the service agreement, Hover Automotive will undertake the implementation of Nissan’s marketing and sales strategy, and support dealer development in India. Since its official launch in May 2008, Hover has been overseeing Nissan’s overall business management in India, including corporate planning, product planning and distribution.

Nishit Tipnis, CEO, Hover Automotive India, explains: “Typically, wherever Nissan has a manufacturing set-up, it handles its own marketing and sales. But looking at India, it has realised it needs domain expertise in the auto retail business and that’s what Hover, with its rich experience, brings to the table.”