The Nissan March has been a success in Thailand. The first eco-car to hit the market, the March propelled itself into the top ten vehicle sales chart of 2010, despite not having a full year of sales (it was launched in March 2010). 18,367 units of the bug eyed hatchback found new homes in 2010, making it the fifth most popular passenger car in Thailand, trailing only the Vios, City, Altis, Civic and Mazda2.
Thanks to affordable pricing, the March’s popularity shows no signs of slowing, and we reckon that Honda’s smaller Brio won’t be doing too much harm to Nissan. Now, Nissan wants to repeat the trick. A report by Bangkok Post says that the automaker wants to produce a second eco-car in Thailand.
“We expect to launch a new model this year after the March’s debut last year,” an exec at Nissan Thailand told the paper, adding that once the new model’s production starts, Nissan’s Thai output of eco-cars will top 100,000 units this year. With that figure, Nissan would have met the eco-car project’s volume requirements. Production of the March will be sustained at 80,000 to 90,000 units, including Japan bound cars.
“The parent firm is about to start production of this new model in China, but those they are going to produce in Thailand will be for export to Japan in addition to the domestic market,” she added, noting that existing production of the March platform in Thailand eased the deal.
Shared platform with March and production in China? Smells like the new Sunny! We were at the Sunny’s world debut at Guangzhou last December, one of the few English language publications worldwide to cover it live. Click here to read the report and view the gallery.
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