Renault-Nissan Chennai plant to begin third production shift

In February this year, we received exclusive information that Renault was gearing up to commence a third production shift at its plant (link to report). Now, it has been officially confirmed that the Renault-Nissan alliance plant in Chennai is in fact, beginning a third production shift to cater to both - domestic and export demand.

From this week, the plant will operate a new night shift on one of its two production lines. The decision will allow the plant to meet the rising domestic demand for the newly launched Renault Kwid and prepare for the introduction of Datsun's third model (Datsun Redi-Go) that is expected to be launched in a few months. The plant will continue to produce the Sunny and Micra, which are exported to markets around the world as well.

The plant started operations in March 2010 following an initial investment of Rs. 45 billion, which has now risen to Rs. 61 billion. The facility celebrated producing its one millionth unit in January and the alliance is currently India's second largest car exporter with more than 6 lakh units shipped to 106 countries.