Nissan Motor Co has reached a new milestone with 150 million vehicles produced globally. It took 73 years for Nissan to produce its first 100 million vehicles after the company was founded in 1933, and another 11 years to build the last 50 million.

When Nissan reached the 100 million vehicle milestone in 2006, 76.5 percent of the total vehicles had been produced in Japan. Localisation of production accelerated in the past 11 years, during which 76.5  percent of the 50 million Nissan vehicles were made outside Japan – driven in particular by the US and China.

As per Autocar Professional's production estimates, Nissan's India operations have contributed a total of 1,031,816 units (see detailed production table below) comprising both Nissan and Datsun vehicles.   

The Japanese carmaker began its manufacturing operations in India in 2010. On May 24, 2010, the company rolled out its first car for India - the Nissan Micra. 

At present, Nissan Motor India manufactures the Micra hatchback, Sunny sedan and Terrano SUV, while sister brand Datsun produces the Go hatchback, Go+ MPV and the Redigo hatchback.   

In February this year, Nissan Motor India notched the milestone of having exported a total of 700,000 ‘Made in India’ Nissan and Datsun cars. The landmark came seven years after the Japanese manufacturer began exports from India. The cars, manufactured at the Renault-Nissan Automotive India plant in Chennai have been exported to 106 countries.

India is not only a key hub for completely built-up units (CBU) but also for parts supply. Nissan India exports over 2,500 types of manufactured parts to 25 Nissan and Renault plants in 18 countries, ranking in the top four in volume of parts shipped within Nissan global operations.

Nissan has been exporting vehicles from Kamarajar Port (formerly Ennore Port) in Chennai since 2010 to various regions including Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and other destinations in Asia and Africa. For Nissan, the Micra has been the most-exported model out of India; other export models in its product line-up include the Nissan Sunny, Datsun Go, Datsun Go+ and the Datsun Redigo.

Also read: Building the one-millionth Nissan at the Oragadam plant