HO CHI MINH CITY – Nissan Vietnam Co. Ltd. (NVL) today announced the launch of the Nissan Grand Livina MPV, which will lead the Nissan brand expansion here in Vietnam. The first locally assembled Nissan vehicle offered in the country, the stylish MPV that seats seven will be sold at one newly opened Nissan flagship dealer in Ho Chi Minh City and one in Hanoi.
"The opening of two flagship dealers in Vietnam with a locally assembled product represents the company's continuing priority focus on business expansion into emerging markets," said Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (NML), who attended the launch ceremony today at Thao Dien Village in Ho Chi Minh City. "Vietnam is one of the key global automotive markets, and we are glad to mark the important milestone in the market today."
Prior to today's launch, Nissan had been selling available import models in Vietnam on a small scale. Now Nissan will be positioned to become a significant part of the automotive market in Vietnam. Nissan has targeted global market share of 5.5 percent within three years. The model lineup for the Vietnamese market will increase to more than eight models, including three locally assembled models and a range of available import models such as Nissan 370Z, Murano, Teana and X-TRAIL. For the first year, NVL expects sales to total 2,000 units.
Flemming Eltang, general director at NVL, said, "We are very pleased to celebrate the official launch of the Nissan Grand Livina today and accelerate our market presence with the first locally assembled vehicle in Vietnam. We look forward to bringing our customers here well-engineered Nissan vehicles that will deliver on driving pleasure and overall vehicle satisfaction."
The Nissan Grand Livina is assembled by Vietnam Motors Corporation (VMC), an existing automotive assembler, and is distributed by NVL. VMC follows the Nissan Production Way (NPW), the global standard established by NML to assure production quality across markets.
"Introducing the Nissan Production Way standards to operations in Vietnam has been a terrific sharing process," said Yoshihiro Ohto, process engineering director, NVL, who has been working with VMC for one year to implement NPW. As part of the program, engineers from VMC trained in NML in Japan for up to five months, while more than 60 engineers from NML rotated through VMC prior to the start of production to ensure quality standards were achieved.
The Ho Chi Minh City dealer will celebrate the opening of two showrooms April 6, and the dealer in Hanoi will open April 13.
ABOUT GRAND LIVINA
The design of Grand Livina expresses sophistication and functional beauty. From city to long-distance driving, for leisure or daily use, Grand Livina provides a stress-free driving experience.
Grand Livina is available with a 1.8-liter MR18DE engine and 4 cylinders inline DOHC, with maximum power of 93 (126) / 5,200 [kW (ps) / rpm] and maximum torque of 174 (17.8) / 4,800 [Nm (kg-m) / rpm]. The engine comes with electronically controlled CVTC (Continuously Variable-Valve Timing Control) for improved performance and fuel efficiency. The vehicle will be available with an electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission or six-speed manual transmission and offered in two trim levels.
Grand Livina will be available in four colors: pacific blue, pearl grey, yellowish silver and sapphire black. It will be priced from 611,009,000 Vietnam Dong to 658,759,000 Vietnam Dong.
ABOUT NISSAN VIETNAM CO. LTD.
NVL is a joint venture between Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan, and Kjaer Group A/S, Denmark, an international vehicle distributor working in emerging markets and a Nissan distributor in several countries.
In December 2008, NVL began operations to import and distribute Nissan vehicles, parts and accessories. NVL has been working on the preparations for the start of local assembly and developing new dealerships. NVL is based in Hanoi and currently has 30 employees.
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