Defiance Technologies to design Nissan's upcoming compact-car

Defiance Technologies, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland, is speculated to handle the designing of the upcoming Nissan-Ashok Leyland joint venture small car in India. It is expected that the company (Ashok Leyland) will announce the tie-up with Nissan at its upcoming annual general meeting.

Ashok Leyland which is the second largest commercial vehicle maker in India, is a leading player in manufacturing of  buses, emergency and military vehicles. The company had recently announced that it will roll-out an LCV (Lightweight Commercial Vehicle) by the end of this year.

Nissan, a Japan based leading car maker, has entered into talks with Ashok Leyland in March this year to develop a compact car in the price range of Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh. However, there has not been any formal announcement made from either of the companies on this regard till now. This is not the first time when Ashok Leyland is in talks with a Japanese car company. In the year 2002, the company was in talks with Toyota Motors Corp to produce a small car in India, which failed due to equity and financial concerns.

The compact-car segment has already become very crowded with more then a dozen car models competing for a significant chunk of auto sales in India that includes Maruti Alto, Maruti Wagon R, Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, Hyundai i20, Fiat Punto, Ford Figo Volkswagen Polo and Chevrolet Beat.