Nissan Signs Deal With Indian Port for Car Exports to Europe

By Thomas Kutty Abraham

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third- largest automaker, signed an agreement with India's Ennore Port Ltd. to export cars to Europe from its first factory in the South Asian nation.

Nissan Motor India Pvt., the local unit that's building a $1.1 billion factory in the southern Indian city of Chennai, plans to export 110,000 cars in the year to March 2011 through Ennore port, and later increase shipments to 180,000 vehicles, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

Nissan's factory will begin production in 2010 and will have a capacity to make 400,000 cars annually for local and overseas markets, the automaker said in June. Nissan will make the Micra model and other cars at the Chennai factory.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham in Mumbai at tabraham4@bloomberg.net