NEXT GENERATION EUROPEAN COMPACT CAR FROM NISSAN TO BE MANUFACTURED BY RENAULT IN EUROPE
YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that the replacement for the current Nissan Micra compact car will be manufactured at a Renault plant in Europe. Due to start production in 2016, the vehicle will be exported across Europe’s left-hand drive markets.
Under the Nissan Power 88 six-year business plan, the company will launch, on average, one new model every six weeks for the duration of the plan. Consequently, available capacity across the relevant plants in the Nissan manufacturing network is already planned to be fully utilized and led the company to look at alternatives within the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
Driven by sales and share expansion across Europe and Russia, Nissan’s manufacturing capacity in Europe and India (the current source for the Micra) will be fully utilized in the mid-term period. The decision to propose the vehicle to Renault to build at one of its European plants benefits Nissan in several ways including capital expense reduction, foreign exchange exposure reduction and working capital reduction through shorter supply chains.
Commenting on the decision to propose consignment of the vehicle to a Renault plant, Trevor Mann, Chairman of the Management Committee, Nissan Europe said: “Nissan is pleased to leverage the economic and logistical benefits of sourcing the next generation Micra at a forecasted annual volume of 82,000 units from a Renault plant in Europe. Nissan already sources powertrain from the Cleon facility and the NV400 light commercial vehicle from the Batilly plant.”
The Nissan Micra, also sold under the March name in certain markets, is one of the company’s most enduring and recognized products. As a global vehicle, the next generation of Micra will also continue to be manufactured outside of Europe, consistent with Nissan’s optimized global sourcing strategy.
Nissan announced Friday that it will make the replacement for the current Micra at a Renault plant in Flins, France, from 2016, using available Alliance capacity. Nissan’s manufacturing capacity in Europe and India (the current source for the Micra) will be fully utilized ahead, so Renault building the car at its Flins plant cuts capital expense, foreign exchange exposure, and working capital through shorter supply chains. The Nissan Global Media Center spoke with Trevor Mann, Chairman of the Management Committee of Nissan Europe, on the plan.