Nissan-Renault chief chooses India for global launch of Datsun

Nissan-Renault Indian car market hopes take a toll as the sales figures in European markets get challenging. That is the reason why Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of the Renault-Nissan alliance, chose India for world launch of Datsun. The brand will debut first in India than will be launched in Indonesia and Russia. The vehicle will be positioned at the lowest point in India and will be directly competing with entry level models of Maruti Suzuki like WagonR, Hyundai Santro, and Alto. These entry level segments account for almost 70% of the total domestic passenger vehicle market of India. On initial level, three under four meters vehicles will be launched in a period of two years which will be mainly focused on common masses. This move is being made in order to improve the economies of scale of the brand in India along with sales volume.

After the launch of brand in July, trial runs for the first Dustan model will take place in August. This model will be a compact hatchback priced at Rs.4 lakhs. The car will be available for sales from January or February onwards. Another model from Nissan-Renault Datsun priced around Rs.3 lakhs will be released after that. This model will be a compact SUV. Although, the alliance spokesperson denied any official confirmation of the July event. Datsun is mainly developed on previous generation of Nissan Micra and from August onwards will be on sales in major malls of India. Although the car is based on a previous car but all aspects related to it will be fresh has been confirmed by a source.  

The Japanese and American car maker have together invested an amount worth Rs.1, 200 crores. This amount will be used to start a new car manufacturing facility in Chennai. The production capacity of this new plant will be equal to 6 to 7 lakh units on an annual basis. The alliance plans to keep its front costs low so will be trading this car through Nissan dealerships. This would indirectly help in boosting revenues of Nissan dealerships.
Datsun would assist Nissan same way as Dacia assisted Renault. Once the range of the model gets widened up Europe will be the next destination for the sales of this brand.