Datsun Global Premiere to take place in India

Nissan will bring back its Datsun brand, with the global premiere to be held in India in July 2013, reports Autocarindia.com.

The premiere on July 15 in New Delhi is likely to see the presence of global CEO of Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn. 

The first product from Datsun will be a sub Rs 4 Lakh, 5 door hatchback that will go on sale in mid 2014. Interestingly, Datsun's first offering will be petrol only (3 cylinder 1.2 L Petrol from the Nissan Micra). 

The main markets for the Datsun brand will be India, Russia and Indonesia. The sales target for India has been pegged at 150,000 - 200,000 units per annum.

We can only hope Nissan does a better job with marketing & distribution support for Datsun than what was managed for its own brand; the Micra, Sunny & Evalia are good cars. However, their sales performance has completely missed the mark. 

The ownership experience will be crucial for Datsun as it is targeting first time buyers. Will Datsun take the effort to develop its own dealership network, or will they again choose the convenient, shortcut method of outsourcing the same to a 3rd party?