Japan's third biggest automaker Nissan Motor Company has announced the appointment of Hover Automotive as its service partner for marketing, sales, after-sales service and dealer development in India.

Under the service provision agreement, Hover will undertake the implementation of Nissan's marketing and sales strategy and support dealer development in India, with the aim of establishing 55 dealers by year 2012.

Hover is a subsidiary of The Westmont Group, a global consortium consisting of diverse portfolio in hotels, real estate, customer service, brand management and marketing.

Nissan Motor, which is 44% owned by French partner Renault SA, currently has just five dealerships in India, where it sells X-Trail sport utility vehicle and Teana sedan imported from Japan. The company aims to launch eight new models in India by 2012 in a bid to boost its vehicle sales to 100,000 units.

Nissan and Renault SA are also set to launch a joint automobile plant worth US$ 1.1 billion in southern India by early 2010.