Colin Dodge told reporters: “There is a strategic importance for India as it has a great potential (with) forecast of over 3 million units in the next five years.” He added: “Globally, Nissan has five per cent market share and in India also we hope to have around the same level.”

The Nissan-Renault alliance also intends producing vehicles in India and have invested Rs 4,500 Crore in a car plant in Chennai, India, which will employ 3,000 workers by 2012 and will begin production in May 2010. The car plant will source local components to ensure its cars have 85 percent localized components.

[Source: Reuters]

PRESS RELEASE:
Nissan Introduces New Dual Injector System for Improved Fuel Efficiency in Small-Displacement Engines

TOKYO (July 14) – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced the development of a Dual Injector system designed to improve fuel efficiency in small-displacement gasoline engines. The new fuel delivery system, the first of its kind in the world^*1, uses an injector for each port rather than one per cylinder – speeding up fuel vaporization, reducing the amount of unburned fuel and reducing hydrocarbon emissions. Nissan will introduce the new system in production vehicles starting early in fiscal 2010.

While most current gasoline engines utilize one injector per cylinder (furnishing fuel to two intake ports), the new Nissan Dual Injector system doubles the number of injectors per cylinder. This reduces the diameter of the fuel droplets by about 60%, resulting in smoother, more stable combustion.

The system also adds continuous valve timing control on the exhaust side to conventional intake-side control, improving heat efficiency, reducing pumping losses and raising fuel efficiency by up to 4%^*2 in sync with the dual injectors.

While similar in theory to “direct-injection” systems, which also inject fuel directly into cylinders, such direct injection systems are difficult to use on small-displacement engines because they require a high-pressure pump that complicates system design, making component layout less cost-efficient. In contrast, the Nissan Dual Injector system is lighter and structurally simpler because it furnishes fuel at normal pressures, reducing cost by about 60% compared to direct-injection engines of similar displacement.

The new Dual Injector system also uses half the amount of rare metals in the catalyzer while maintaining the efficiency of the catalytic conversion system. That number could potentially be reduced to 75% in combination with the ultralow-rare-metal catalysts that were introduced in 2008.

“We consider it important to further improve the fuel efficiency of gasoline engines as demand for gasoline and other internal-combustion systems continues to increase around the world,” said Shuichi Nishimura, Corporate Vice President, Nissan Powertrain Engineering Division. “By widely applying the Dual Injector system on small-displacement engines, we hope to help reduce CO2 emissions and conserve rare metals.”

Nissan has been addressing a wide range of actions under “Blue Citizenship,” which represents the company’s desire to protect the blue planet and to be a corporate citizen that can live symbiotically with people and society. These efforts range from such global issues as the environmental protection to contribution to communities, promoting diversity and making personal mobility available to as many people as possible. Nissan continues promoting the “Nissan Green Program 2010,” based on the “Blue Citizenship” spirit by introducing effective technologies, products and services into the market.

^*1 Mass production passenger cars (Nissan’s research).
^*2 Compared with Nissan gasoline-powered engines in the same class.

In terms of year-on-year sales figures, May saw the thirteenth straight month of decline in new car sales in Europe, with only Volkswagen AG and Fiat SpA selling more than last year. Renault, France’s No. 2 carmaker said its vehicle sales in Europe declined by 22 percent during the quarter, worse than the overall 17.2 percent decline European car market!

Meanwhile, Nissan UK saw an increase of almost 10% on the UK sales figures from June 2008 as the company took orders for 7,149 new cars compared to 6,574 in June 2008, mainly due the the UK government’s scrappage scheme. The Nissan Qashqai, Nissan Note, Nissan Pixo and Nissan Micra accounted for more than 80% of the Nissan sales orders.

Top five Nissan car sales for June 2009

1. Nissan Micra (27% of sales – 1,927 orders)
2. Nissan Qashqai (26% of sales – 1,879 orders)
3. Nissan Note (23% of sales – 1,672 orders)
4. Nissan Pixo (10% of sales – 742 orders)
5. Nissan Qashqai +2 (7% of sales – 513 orders)