Photo: Nissan
French carmaker Renault has just announced that it will be responsible for making the next Nissan Micra supermini starting in 2016. Following a €7 million ($9m) investment, the Le Mans factory will be responsible for assembly of chassis components.
These will then be shipped over to Flins, where final assembly of the Micra will take place two years from now. Thus Renault will be building the whole chassis for Micra in France, and assembling the car in France as well.
While the current generation of Nissan Micra subcompact is an interesting car, especially after the facelift, it hasn't managed to achieve the same levels of success as its predecessor, which was phased out in 2010. By shifting production from Sunderland (UK) to India, Nissan has created not only an image problem, but also one of competitiveness.
Despite being smaller than most of its rivals, the Micra is sometimes more expensive to buy and lacks the premium European feel. No details are known about the future generation model. However, it's believed it will be based on an evolution of the Nissan-Renault V platform, shared with the Clio 4.
The Flins Renault Factory is one of the biggest in the country, covering 237 hectares. Currently producing the Clio and Zoe models, it assembled 129,884 cars in 2013. The Nissan Micra's arrival will mean production will be more than doubled, as the Japanese car brand expects output of 132,000 vehicles per year.
This is just one part of Carlos Ghosn's corporate plan. The alliance CEO believes that cross-manufacturing is key to increasing competitiveness. We've already seen how Renault is building small engines for its sister brand, like the 1.2 TCe sold as the 1.2 DIG-T on models like the Note and Juke. The partnership extends even further, to platform sharing and joint acquisition of building materials.
While the current generation of Nissan Micra subcompact is an interesting car, especially after the facelift, it hasn't managed to achieve the same levels of success as its predecessor, which was phased out in 2010. By shifting production from Sunderland (UK) to India, Nissan has created not only an image problem, but also one of competitiveness.
Despite being smaller than most of its rivals, the Micra is sometimes more expensive to buy and lacks the premium European feel. No details are known about the future generation model. However, it's believed it will be based on an evolution of the Nissan-Renault V platform, shared with the Clio 4.
The Flins Renault Factory is one of the biggest in the country, covering 237 hectares. Currently producing the Clio and Zoe models, it assembled 129,884 cars in 2013. The Nissan Micra's arrival will mean production will be more than doubled, as the Japanese car brand expects output of 132,000 vehicles per year.
This is just one part of Carlos Ghosn's corporate plan. The alliance CEO believes that cross-manufacturing is key to increasing competitiveness. We've already seen how Renault is building small engines for its sister brand, like the 1.2 TCe sold as the 1.2 DIG-T on models like the Note and Juke. The partnership extends even further, to platform sharing and joint acquisition of building materials.
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