Nissan to speed up local production in China

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. will speed up local production in China with aim to lift up its import substitution rate in the country to 90 percent in 2012.
 
The company's CVT seamless gearboxes will go into local production in the Chinese market in 2009 and its favorable VQ- series engines will start local production in 2010, said people close to Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company.

Currently, talents with Dongfeng Nissan are discussing with Nissan Motor professionals on how to ensure the quality of Nissan's VQ-series engines when they are be produced in China. The insider acknowledged that both sides had reached an agreement on a joint venture but declined to reveal the exact stake they will take in it.

Local production dose not mean low quality and it will play a significant role in reducing Nissan's cost in China, Toshiaki Otani, general manager of Dongfeng Nissan, said, the most important thing for Nissan to put its products into local production in any country is to ensure their quality.

Apart from a 90 percent import substitution rate, Nissan Motor aims to let the sales volume of the CVT seamless gearboxes-equipped cars sold in China account for about 50 percent of the total it achieved in the market in 2012, said Dongfeng Nissan in its 2008-to-2012 development plan.

Dongfeng Nissan unveiled the five-year development plan in Beijing at the end of this May. It plans to capture a sales target of 1 million vehicles and a sales revenue of 100 billion yuan ($14.58 billion) by 2012 via launching over 15 new car models.

In order to achieve the goals, it plans to attach more importance to expanding its sales network for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. It intends to lift the total number of its passenger car dealers nationwide to 420 by 2010 from 300 in 2007.

It also wants to lift the number of its light commercial vehicle dealers as well as medium and heavy commercial vehicle dealers nationwide to 630 and 380 by 2012 from 420 and 251 in 2007. Besides, it wants lift the proportion of its export of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles to over 10 percent by 2012 from five percent in 2007.

Dongfeng Nissan, founded in June 2003, is a 50-50 joint venture between the Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor. It expects a sales volume of 680,000 units in 2008.