Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed

ash22 · 24th October 2019, 17:20

Expected this attempt. Datsun as a brand has its own legacy. Datsun Go is not that worst as a product for the price tag it offered.
Better build quality and appropriate wheel size portions could have made the brand live. Also, Marketing for Datsun could have been handled well.Newly came MG and Kia is good at it.
I see that Nissan didn’t concentrate much on Datsun and that lead to the end of life of Datsun.

evilmessiah · 24th October 2019, 21:58

I remember GTO stating way back in one of his review questioning why on earth would someone spawn so many brands at the same time instead of focusing on building the brand equity of one single brand? (At that time Renault, Nissan and Datsun were in the market at the same time)

Turns out that someone at Renault-Nissan alliance saw that post, a light went off in his head, pitched this as a new idea to the Board at the Meeting, got a pat on the back and maybe got a nice raise and a promotion. Amazing how elementary commonsense, logic and basic strategic vision eludes these folks.

I remember going for test driving a Datsun Redi-Go. Since the salesman was busy pitching to some nice newly weds, I took it to myself to check out the car in the showroom floor. I found the interiors so nasty that I stepped out and walked to the Renault showroom right next door. The Kwid was like a limo compared to the Redi-Go. Stay dead, Datsun. The fond memories of the lissome 240Z are long gone.

Hayek · 25th October 2019, 07:46

Suspect we will see more brands leaving India in the next few years. The fact is that they are faced with two incredibly capable competitors - Maruti (which has maintained a 50% share in a 20 player market for over two decades now) and Hyundai (which is Maruti’s only rival and seems to have passed on its DNA to sibling Kia). The sheer comfort that the average Indian customer gets from these two brands makes any other mass market offering unviable - and they are gradually spreading their domination upwards, all the way to the C2 segment crossovers priced in the ₹15-20 l range.

With the need to invest in EV technology, brands no longer have money to burn chasing uncertain rewards 20 years out. So players have only two choices - become niche players in India playing above the Maruti - Hyundai segment (a la the Germans and Toyota), get costs down by using India as a manufacturing base and sell residual cars in India (which will become less attractive thanks to the Government’s policies of raising duties on everything) or cut losses and leave.

COMMUTER · 25th October 2019, 08:42

Nissan hasn't invested anything in addition to some seperate ads and nameboards in this brand. The plan must have been to get people to think more snobbish towards Nissan as being vastly superior to Datsun. This failed when they set both the cars in the same floor in a building carrying both the brands. In addition to this, they struggled to reach out more by opening more branches. Many of the tottering brands make the mistake of setting up at places where the population is the highest and leave it there. If only they can bleed a bit and match the number of branches and competent service centers of the best player in the market continuously for a few years then only they will get a chance. The quality or value of the product is completely irrelevant to reaching the masses. The CVT was a great product at 7 Lacs. Today Swift and I20, with inferior AMT, are getting sold for over 10lacs. We deserve the product of our choices.

Iyencar · 25th October 2019, 09:01

As a wise red lady said, "what is dead may never die"

. Datsun was already dead to me. All this news means is Nissan may accept the fact in public.

veyron_head · 25th October 2019, 18:53

OMG! They are killing the Datsun Brand. This is death knell for the Indian Auto Industry!! What will happen to Maruti and Hyundai now, with the market leader gone for good? God save the Industry.

volkman10 · 2nd December 2019, 14:41

Nissan pulls Datsun compacts from Southeast Asia and Russia.

Quote:

Following the departure of Carlos Ghosn as chairman, Nissan Motor will stop producing its Datsun compact car in Indonesia and Russia from next year

While Datsun is symptomatic of many of these issues, it only accounts for 1% of Nissan's sales globally.

The brand will live on in India, where it is popular and a new model is planned. Production is also due to begin soon in Pakistan.

Link

volkman10 · 23rd March 2020, 16:53

Nissan pulls the plug on Datsun brand in Indonesia

Datsun brand completely discontinued in Indonesia; Nissan ends local production too.

Quote:

Nissan has officially announced that it has ended production of models under the Nissan and Datsun brands in Indonesia. The company earlier had two plants in the country, at Karawang and Purwakarta, in the West Java region. The facility at Karawang that built Nissan vehicles closed its doors back in September last year, while the one at Purwakarta that manufactured the Datsun range was shut in January.

Link

Bibendum90949 · 24th July 2020, 10:52

Brand Datsun and the road ahead in India

Updated on July 23, 2020.

Quote:

Its relevance going forward is a million dollar question

As Nissan gets set to launch its compact SUV Magnite in India early next year, the interesting twist to the script is the fate of brand Datsun.

It is now well known that the Magnite was intended originally as a Datsun-branded SUV but will now sport the Nissan badge. Perhaps this could also imply the end of the road for the Datsun brand in India which was touted with much fanfare at the time of its Delhi unveiling in 2013.

Clearly, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge over the last couple of years starting with the shock arrest of Carlos Ghosn, former Chairman of Renault-Nissan, in late-2018. A series of dramatic events followed where some big names exited both companies even as relations between the partners worsened by the day

More on the link below.

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com...e_completion&#

sgiitk · 25th July 2020, 11:54

I never understood why Nissan revived the label, that too for the el cheapo car. There were many ways of bringing in a low end model. Maybe they should have reserved it for EVs and hybrids. Logically I expected more respect for your origin.

Amrik Singh · 25th July 2020, 13:14

How does it matter when it is just a brand that is being shelved ?

Datsun has seen some of the best models : Datsun 280z was an excellent one.
Here I have a Toy Police Car purchased decades ago when this model was in craze

.

24th October 2019, 17:20	#31
ash22 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Chennai Posts: 208 Thanked: 480 Times View My Garage	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed Expected this attempt. Datsun as a brand has its own legacy. Datsun Go is not that worst as a product for the price tag it offered. Better build quality and appropriate wheel size portions could have made the brand live. Also, Marketing for Datsun could have been handled well.Newly came MG and Kia is good at it. I see that Nissan didn’t concentrate much on Datsun and that lead to the end of life of Datsun.
	() Thanks

24th October 2019, 21:58	#32
evilmessiah BHPian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Cochin Posts: 169 Thanked: 420 Times	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed I remember GTO stating way back in one of his review questioning why on earth would someone spawn so many brands at the same time instead of focusing on building the brand equity of one single brand? (At that time Renault, Nissan and Datsun were in the market at the same time) Turns out that someone at Renault-Nissan alliance saw that post, a light went off in his head, pitched this as a new idea to the Board at the Meeting, got a pat on the back and maybe got a nice raise and a promotion. Amazing how elementary commonsense, logic and basic strategic vision eludes these folks. I remember going for test driving a Datsun Redi-Go. Since the salesman was busy pitching to some nice newly weds, I took it to myself to check out the car in the showroom floor. I found the interiors so nasty that I stepped out and walked to the Renault showroom right next door. The Kwid was like a limo compared to the Redi-Go. Stay dead, Datsun. The fond memories of the lissome 240Z are long gone.
	(1) Thanks

25th October 2019, 07:46	#33
Hayek Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,906 Thanked: 15,399 Times	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed Suspect we will see more brands leaving India in the next few years. The fact is that they are faced with two incredibly capable competitors - Maruti (which has maintained a 50% share in a 20 player market for over two decades now) and Hyundai (which is Maruti’s only rival and seems to have passed on its DNA to sibling Kia). The sheer comfort that the average Indian customer gets from these two brands makes any other mass market offering unviable - and they are gradually spreading their domination upwards, all the way to the C2 segment crossovers priced in the ₹15-20 l range. With the need to invest in EV technology, brands no longer have money to burn chasing uncertain rewards 20 years out. So players have only two choices - become niche players in India playing above the Maruti - Hyundai segment (a la the Germans and Toyota), get costs down by using India as a manufacturing base and sell residual cars in India (which will become less attractive thanks to the Government’s policies of raising duties on everything) or cut losses and leave.
	(2) Thanks

25th October 2019, 08:42	#34
COMMUTER BANNED Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: India Posts: 573 Thanked: 1,037 Times View My Garage	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed Nissan hasn't invested anything in addition to some seperate ads and nameboards in this brand. The plan must have been to get people to think more snobbish towards Nissan as being vastly superior to Datsun. This failed when they set both the cars in the same floor in a building carrying both the brands. In addition to this, they struggled to reach out more by opening more branches. Many of the tottering brands make the mistake of setting up at places where the population is the highest and leave it there. If only they can bleed a bit and match the number of branches and competent service centers of the best player in the market continuously for a few years then only they will get a chance. The quality or value of the product is completely irrelevant to reaching the masses. The CVT was a great product at 7 Lacs. Today Swift and I20, with inferior AMT, are getting sold for over 10lacs. We deserve the product of our choices.
	(1) Thanks

25th October 2019, 09:01	#35
Iyencar BHPian Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Mumbai Posts: 463 Thanked: 2,316 Times	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed As a wise red lady said, "what is dead may never die" . Datsun was already dead to me. All this news means is Nissan may accept the fact in public.
	(1) Thanks

25th October 2019, 18:53	#36
veyron_head BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 582 Thanked: 698 Times	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed OMG! They are killing the Datsun Brand. This is death knell for the Indian Auto Industry!! What will happen to Maruti and Hyundai now, with the market leader gone for good? God save the Industry.
	(1) Thanks

25th July 2020, 11:54	#40
sgiitk BANNED Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Gurugram Posts: 7,969 Thanked: 4,788 Times	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed I never understood why Nissan revived the label, that too for the el cheapo car. There were many ways of bringing in a low end model. Maybe they should have reserved it for EVs and hybrids. Logically I expected more respect for your origin.
	() Thanks

25th July 2020, 13:14	#41
Amrik Singh BHPian Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New Delhi Posts: 658 Thanked: 3,365 Times	Re: Rumour: Datsun brand to be axed How does it matter when it is just a brand that is being shelved ? Datsun has seen some of the best models : Datsun 280z was an excellent one. Here I have a Toy Police Car purchased decades ago when this model was in craze .
	(2) Thanks