On Wednesday, the Datsun brand of major Japanese automaker Nissan made a global comeback with the company launching its entry-level car ‘Datsun Go’ priced between Rs 3.12 lakh and Rs 3.70 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi ) in India, intensifying competition in the small car segment.
“The Indian car market is very competitive and with Datsun we are entering a segment that we cannot address with the Nissan brand. We expect the Datsun brand to contribute half to one-third of Nissan’s sales in India,” Nissan Motor India CEO and CEO Kenichiro Yomura told reporters.
The company will launch three models under the Datsun brand for fiscal 2016 and has already announced the Go+ as the second model it will launch.
Commenting on the return of the Datsun brand, Datsun Global Program Director Ashwani Gupta said the global automotive market has undergone a change with high-growth markets such as India, Indonesia, Russia and Brazil accounting for 40 percent of total sales, which was expected. to represent 60 percent by 2016-17.
“The new car demand opportunity is in high-growth markets with first-time buyers. The transaction price in India ranges from $8,000 to $9,000 compared to $25,000 to $30,000 in mature markets like the US, EU and Japan. That’s why we decided to bring in the Datsun brand,” Gupta said.