Nissan India has come abreast with other big players in the export segment in India. The company is looking to crack the volume segment in India by inducting the inexpensive cars made under its Datsun brand. It has not only emerged a winner in the export segment by crossing the one lakh unit mark in fiscal year 2012, but it has also become the top exporter of mid size sedan exported to various countries from India. After Hyundai and Maruti, Nissan now stands at the third spot as far as export of passenger cars from India is concerned with a share of 20%.

Nissan sold 33,286 units in India in fiscal year 2012, however its exports stood at 100,909 units of cars in FY 2012 in comparison to 46,135 units which the company exported in FY2011. This drastic positive change has been possible due to its new mid size sedan Nissan Sunny. Ever since the sedan has been launched in India, Nissan’s sales have improved and also the export figures have improved too.

Nissan commenced exporting Nissan Sunny sedan to other countries from India from January 2012 and as of March 31st, 2012 the company has been able to successfully export 14, 234 units. However, Nissan’s hatchback Micra has not been able to garner good sales in India, the small car is doing good in the export. Nissan has been able to export 86,675 units of Micra hatchback to other countries in FY2012 in comparison to 46,135 units shipped in 2012-2011.

Ishida Takayuki, the managing director, Nissan Motors India stated that the company is right now exporting Nissan Sunny sedan to countries in West Asia. He further mentioned that Nissan is evaluating options to expand its export base for made in India cars, however that will not deviate the company from becoming the top manufacturer in India.

Hyundai India was earlier crowned as the largest exporter of sedan cars with robust export strength of Hyundai Accent and Hyundai Verna. After the revised classification of SIAM, Accent was moved to the category of super compact sedans that comprise of Mahindra Verito, Maruti Swift Dzire, Toyota Etios. However Hyundai Verna still lies under the mid-size sedan segment. In the mid-size sedan segment, Nissan Sunny is topping the charts now. It has bagged the top slot in the mid-size sedan segment in the export market. Hyundai India shipped 24,682 units of Accent in FY2011-12 compared to 22,849 units in the previous year.