Nissan To Export Low-Cost India-Made Cars to U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third-largest automaker, eventually may export low-cost, Indian-built cars to the U.S. to tap demand in the world's biggest vehicle market.

The autos may sell for less than $5,000, even after modifications to meet U.S. safety and emissions standards, Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn told reporters yesterday at the Tokyo Motor Show. The models probably will cost about $3,000 in India and would go on the market there in 2010, Ghosn said.

At a fraction of the $25,000 average for new passenger vehicles in the U.S., the cars may win customers as higher gasoline prices boost sales of smaller, more fuel-efficient models. Nissan is studying plans to build the car with Bajaj Auto Ltd., India's second-biggest motorcycle maker.

Now that's globalization for you: A Japanese car company, headed by a CEO who was born in Brazil, grew up in Lebanon and educated in France, teaming up with an Indian motorcycle company to produce vehicles in India, for sale in the U.S.!

(HT: Sanil Kori)