Ambassador of Japan to India, Mr Kenji Hiramatsu visited the Renault-Nissan Alliance plant at Oragadam near Chennai last week. He was accompanied by his wife Mrs Patricia Clara Aguado Hiramatsu and key officials from the Japanese embassy and Consulate-General of Japan in Chennai.

Speaking on his visit to the plant, Mr Kenji Hiramatsu said, "This is an impressive state-of-the-art facility with quality assurance mechanisms deployed. I am pleased to witness that the facility has created enormous opportunities for local employment as well as built a healthy vendor network, further creating additional jobs.”

“The Renault-Nissan Alliance facility is a demonstration of tradition and innovation coming together,” he added.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is the largest Alliance production facility in the world which started operations in March 2010 following a Rs 4,500 crore initial investment. The Alliance has invested an additional Rs 160 crore. This facility has manufactured 32 Renault, Nissan and Datsun models and derivatives from its production line. It caters to both domestic and international markets and has developed into India's second largest car exporter with more than 650,000 units shipped to 106 countries since 2010.

Together, the manufacturing plant and R&D facility account for around 12,000 direct jobs in Tamil Nadu, with a further 40,000 in the Indian supplier chain, making an increasing contribution to the local economy.

Accompanied by Colin MacDonald, CEO and managing director of Renault-Nissan Alliance India, the Japanese delegation visited the manufacturing facility. As part of the visit, the dignitaries were taken through the Alliance Production Way (APW) of building cars wherein they also interacted with key management personnel from the facility.

Colin MacDonald said, "Our Chennai facility is a testimony of our commitment to India which will continue to play a fundamental role in the development of our business here. We are proud to have hosted the Ambassador at our facility and have the opportunity to introduce him to our people, processes and Alliance Production Way of building cars.”

In a gesture to support the environment, Mr and Mrs Hiramatsu planted a sapling at the facility. Mrs. Hiramatsu, who is appreciative of the Indian culture, freedom and diversity also interacted with a few women employees from the facility.