[parrys]

Mod Note: Team-BHP's Official Review of the Datsun Go has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the review thread.



Just a few minutes back, Nissan announced the revival of it's Datsun brand, stating that it will enter the Indian Automobile Market by 2014.




High Points:

• We can realistically expect to see Datsun cars on our roads by 2014.
• The Datsun range of vehicles are targeted to high-growth emerging markets like India, Indonesia and Russia.
• Datsun will roll out cars which are affordable & fuel-efficient. Expect Datsun to be positioned *below* Nissan.
• The core offering for Datsun in India will be priced below Rs. 4 Lakh.
• The target audience will be the first time car owner.
• Datsun cars will have a certain amount of local engineering.
• The Datsun range of vehicles will be the entry-point to the Nissan family.
• The new hexagonal grill, which will be used in Datsun cars, is shown below.
• Technology will be developed by Nissan; no separate / individual Datsun R&D division.
• The products will be based on new platforms.
• On a related note, Nissan has doubled their annual capacity to 4 lakh this month.

*UPDATE*: Pictures and launch report for Datsun GO added on Pg.6. Link: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post3178945 (Nissan to revive the Datsun brand in India!)

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[jinojohnt]

One of my teachers in school had a Datsun Car in 1988. He had actually 'shipped' his car from Canada (to Trivandrum) when he came back to India. I don't remember much details, other than that it was a sedan in Coffee Brown Color. The back seat comfort was leagues ahead of the ambassador. He used it for 3 years in India and then sold it off before migrating back to Canada. I remember his comment "This is one reliable car, that's why I took all the pain to pack it to India on a ship".

Remember that Maruti 800 was just launched during those times, and the other cars available in India were mostly Ambassador and Fiat.

Feeling Nostalgic :-)

[jalsa777]

Nissan-Renault now have 3 brands in the Indian market. Product differentiation will be a big issue for these brands. The Micra and the Pulse already demonstrate that.

[mayankjha1806]

I am not too sure what will be the benefit to get this brand back, when Nissan spent many years trying to get rid of this brand. This was discontinued way back in the 1980's.

My guess is they would want to launch Datsun as low cost variants or entry level models, and retain Nissan as a premium brand, hence the decision to launch in developing markets and not developed markets.

[indivic]

ACI reported a few months ago as part of the Confidential column that Nissan would use the Micra K11 as base for a low cost car.

File:Nissan Micra (K11) front.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
File:Nissan Micra (K11) back.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[pganapathy]

It looks like Nissan is ressurecting the brand name so that they can sell VFM cars and not have that image affect how Nissan is perceived. Makes a lot of sense in some ways. The exact opposite of the luxury brands (Lexus, Acura etc.) started by the Japanese.

If the pricing is to be believed, they are aiming to compete directly with Maruti. Should make for better choice in the Indian market, which is always a good thing.

[noopster]

Datsun is a brand I remember from my childhood. You could spot the odd imported car in Juhu or Bandra sporting the Datsun logo when I was growing up. Pretty big brand it was.

Am really wondering how much sense bringing back this brand makes given that Renault is also operating here with similar products as parrys pointed out. In fact the way Datsun transitioned to Nissan (first round of ads saying "Datsun", then "Datsun-Nissan" then "Nissan-Datsun" and finally "Nissan" only) was taught as some kind of successful rebranding case study at B school. So this is really befuddling.

On teh other hand, Nissan have shot themselves in the foot with their wafer thin network and overpriced/underdelivering cars in India so far, so good luck to Datsun!

[1100D]

Welcome Back DATSUN!!

Always had a soft corner for the brand

A neighbourhood car



A DATSUN SUNNY

[suhaas307]

If Nissan has a clear-cut strategy, I don't see any harm. In fact, it might help with market-share.

The Datsun brand, as mentioned earlier, will offer a car that's under 4 lakhs. It will be hard, but if they can achieve this, then Hyundai and Maruti have a lot to worry about. By then, Nissan should be established, and the dealer-network would be ever-growing.

It's quite clear that Datsun will be positioned a notch below the parent company, Nissan. If this is indeed the strategy, I'd like to believe that it's a pretty good one.

They should, however, take the effort in making their cars look different. And not resort to re-badged Renaults and Nissans.

[amtak]

It is indeed a good thing to revive a brand; however, why not bring Dacia instead of Datsun?

[parrys]

Originally Posted by amtak

It is indeed a good thing to revive a brand; however, why not bring Dacia instead of Datsun?

I guess the Renault-Nissan alliance has picked up each of the low cost brands respectively. Renault is bringing in the Duster this year which is from the Dacia portfolio. So, let’s hope that with so much influence / expertise from various markets and brands - we can see much better and VFM products in the market.
This should hopefully help them to differentiate their products better, unlike the Micra and Pulse.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by parrys

I guess the Renault-Nissan alliance has picked up each of the low cost brands respectively. Renault is bringing in the Duster this year which is from the Dacia portfolio. So, let’s hope that with so much influence / expertise from various markets and brands - we can see much better and VFM products in the market.
This should hopefully help them to differentiate their products better, unlike the Micra and Pulse.

Agreed. My point is, wouldn't they be spending a lot more moolah on R&D by engineering these cars specially for India, Russia? Dacia model (Logan, now Verito) is a living proof that how good the car is...Where it failed is in pricing!

If Renault can use Nissan models to add a "pulse" to their low sales in India, why can't Nissan pick Dacia and brand it Datsun?

PS: I read in ACI yesterday that Renault is launching their own model of Nissan Sunny and have named it Sulca (or something like that)

[zalaps]

Originally Posted by amtak

It is indeed a good thing to revive a brand; however, why not bring Dacia instead of Datsun?

Same question here. Atleast Dacia is running brand.
I'm sure bygoing with Renault's pricing strategies Renault Duster will be priced good 2 Lakhs more than what could be possible price for Dacia Duster in India.


After thought: As it is for East countries, may be Datsun sounds more homely to them

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by indivic

ACI reported a few months ago as part of the Confidential column that Nissan would use the Micra K11 as base for a low cost car.

File:Nissan Micra (K11) front.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
File:Nissan Micra (K11) back.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If this is true, then the new Datsun small car can be a true competitor to the Alto - maybe, it could even undercut the Alto pricing by a bit.
The K11 platform is over 20 years old, so I guess all R&D costs have been amortised by now and Nissan might even have dies and tooling lying around, waiting to be installed on the assembly line in Chennai.

Problem - Nissan needs to, very quickly, ramp up on dealerships and service centres. Else, sales will be dismal and the Maruti Alto will remain unchallenged.