Renault, Nissan will build new plant in India, report says

(Reuters) -- Renault and Nissan Motor Co. will invest about 30 billion yen ($320 million) in a new car assembly plant in India, a Japanese business paper said.

The plant will make Nissan's Datsun cars and new lower-priced Renault models by the second half of 2014. It will increase the capacity of the joint venture's manufacturing base in Chennai to 600,000 units a year from 400,000 units, the Nikkei reported on Thursday.

Nissan is reviving its old Datsun brand for emerging markets. The new plant is also expected to produce a new model in India.

Nissan hopes to raise its market share from about 1 percent in India, a market dominated by Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co.