Nissan hopes to launch 2,500 dollar car in India in 2010
Nissan and Renault hope to start selling a car for about 2,500 dollars in India in around 2010 along with their local partner there, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday.
“We have already practically decided all the attributes of the car,” Ghosn told reporters at the Tokyo Motor Show.“We have the full intention to do it — if it’s feasible. Hopefully this is going to be 2010 in India,” he said.
Ghosn, who heads both Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. and its French partner Renault, said he would visit Indian partner Bajaj Auto next week for talks on the car.
He said that it appeared possible to make a 2,500-dollar car for India, but the big question was whether it could be exported to other markets such as Europe, China, Brazil, Mexico or even the United States.
“But the first step is to make it for India and to make it competitive,” he added.
[Breitbart.com, 24 Oct 2007]
My only question here, and it’s one area in which I have some small amount of expertise, is, “What about quality?”
Outsourcing manufacturing, to be sure, lowers manufacturers’ imediate costs. But it’s a proven fact that many Third World countries (e.g., China, India, Mexico, Pakistan, etc.) don’t give a rip about quality, and tend towards fatalism in practice, if not when things go wrong (of course, that’s a little late if you’re on the business end of the manufacturer’s or producer’s negligence).
Need proof? Well, do you remember the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal [WARNING: Link contains disturbing image and story]? How about the lead-saturated Chinese toys that were recalled back in 19… oh, wait… that’s still happening!
