Renault, Nissan to set up India tech centre in 2008

Tokyo, Sept 6: Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co said on Thursday they would set up a business centre in Chennai, southern India, in early 2008 to support engineering and other functions for their facilities around the world.

The 50-50 joint venture will provide services including product and manufacturing engineering, purchasing, design, cost management and information systems development, with more than 1,500 employees in 2010, the partners said in a statement.

The Franco-Japanese alliance plans to push aggressively into the fast-growing Indian market, having announced several car and truck-making projects with various local partners including Mahindra&Mahindra Ltd and Ashok Leyland Ltd Renault also began talks recently with India's No.2 motorcycle maker, Bajaj Auto Ltd, to discuss whether they could build a $3,000 car -- a project that would also include Nissan -- to compete with Tata Motors Ltd's proposed $2,500 car.

In July, Renault opened a design centre in Mumbai to help design vehicles for both the local and other regional markets.

Renault owns 44 percent of Nissan, while the Japanese automaker holds 15 percent of its French partner.

Reuters>