Nissan starts production of the Sunny sedan in India

Nissan India has just announced the start of production of the Sunny. Based on the new V-platform the Sunny will be second car to be manufactured completely in India after the Micra. The car will be manufactured at the company's Oragadam facility near Chennai. Speaking at the occasion Kiminobu Tokuyama, Managing Director and CEO, NMIPL said, "Start of production of Nissan Sunny is another significant milestone for Nissan in India. We wanted the mid-size sedan to be available during the upcoming festival season and we successfully accelerated our work program to make that schedule. Nissan Sunny will help to leverage our position as one of the key players in the Indian market".

The Sunny is expected to slot in at roughly Rs 7 to 9 lakh which will place it in contention with the City and the Vento in the C-segment. The Sunny sits on a 2600mm platform based on the Toyota Corolla which will mean the space inside will be pretty good. Engines in use will be the 106PS 1.5-litre petrol, the four cylinder version of the Micra's three cylinder engine. The car will also use the 1.5-liter dCi that is common to a lot of Renault-Nissan cars.

The car will hit the markets this festive season.

Here is the press release

Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. (NMIPL) today celebrated the start of production of its 'Made-in-India' mid-size sedan Nissan SUNNY at the company's manufacturing plant at Oragadam, near Chennai. This is the second completely made in India car to be rolled out by Nissan from the Chennai plant in a period of 15 months.

The Nissan SUNNY was unveiled on August 3, 2011 and is being readied to hit the market by the coming festive season. It is manufactured with 85% local content of which 40% of the components are sourced from Chennai. The sedan is expected to appeal to young families looking for a medium sized sedan that combines a dynamic upscale design with the space, quality and features associated with the Nissan brand.

Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Kiminobu Tokuyama, Managing Director and CEO, NMIPL. said, "Start of production of Nissan SUNNY is another significant milestone for Nissan in India. We wanted the mid-size sedan to be available during the upcoming festival season and we successfully accelerated our work program to make that schedule. Nissan SUNNY will help to leverage our position as one of the key players in the Indian market".

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kou Kimura, CEO and MD, Renault Nissan Alliance India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL) said, "Today's start of production of SUNNY reinstates Nissan's commitment to India and is the second of many other local products to come. It highlights the high-performance level of our state of the art plant, which is producing its second model in less than 15 months".

The new Nissan SUNNY made its international debut at the 8th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition in 2010 and later in the US. The SUNNY is the second model built on Nissan's all new V-platform.