Renault's global entry level car,
the Dacia Logan, may possibly be built in Nissan plants according to a
Reuters report.
Patrick Pelata, executive vice president of product planning and
programmes, told the news agency that countries with Renault manufacturing
operations such as Brazil, Colombia, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Turkey,
India and Iran offered potential for the no-frills family car.
It is now mainly made by Dacia in Romania. However, if Nissan plants are
considered then it brings in China, Mexico and South Africa. Sales of
the Logan are well ahead of expectations and will exceed 150,000 units
in 2005 and more than 200,000 in 2006. Current expansion plans would take
Logan production to one million units a year.
Reuters also reported that Renault is negotiating with two Chinese
cities to build a plant. One of them is Guangzhou where Dongfeng Motor,
China's third biggest car maker and Nissan's local joint venture partner,
already has a factory. However, he said that Renault's local venture would
be a different entity from Nissan's so as to keep the two brands distinct.
He declined to tell Reuters how long the negotiations might take, but
noted that Nissan's agreement had taken more than three years.
He also told Reuters that Renault has no plans yet to enter the US market
because the carmaker had many other projects to tackle first, including
expanding in or entering the Indian, Eastern European and South American
markets.
|
|
