Datsun GO hatchback unveiled in India

Days ago, Renault-Nissan Chairman and CEO, Mr. Carlos Ghosn, unveiled the Datsun GO low cost hatchback. While the cost, variants and specific technical details of the Datsun GO will be available close to the launch of this hatchback, in early 2014, initial details and imagery of the car have now been released. With the GO hatchback, the Datsun badge has been resurrected 3 decades after the brand was discontinued by Nissan. Datsun is now the third brand under the Nissan umbrella, after Nissan and Infiniti. 

Going back into history, in 1924 Nissan began life in Japan as the Dat Go brand, which literally means Lightning-Fast Car. Eventually, the Dat GO brand got transformed into Datson/Datsun in 1933. Ever since, the Datsun brand spawned a range of cars, until being discontinued in 1986. Nissan has brought back the Datsun badge to foray into the low cost car segment, an area which is increasingly becoming attractive to car makers across the globe due to the sheer volumes it delivers. 

The first car for the resurrected Datsun brand is the GO hatchback, a model developed in India with inputs from Nissan's Japanese R&D facility. The car will be built at the Renault-Nissan joint manufacturing facility at Oragadam. The GO hatchback is a low cost product that is aimed at young/first time car buyers in emerging markets. Apart from India, the car and its derivatives will be sold in countries such as Indonesia, Russia and South Africa.

Local production and sourcing will be key aspects of Datsun cars in the aforementioned markets, as a crucial strategy that aims to keep costs low. Parts sharing is another major strategy on the Datsun GO, a car said to share parts with the Micra hatchback. This is evidenced by the 1.2 liter-3 cylinder petrol engine the GO features, and the 2.450 mm wheelbase it shares with the Micra. The engine is mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox that drives the front wheels of the car.

Other tell tale signs of parts sharing include AC vents and door handles on the Datsun GO, both borrowed from the Micra. Considering the fact that Nissan has launched the Micra Active, (a cut price version of the pre-facelift Micra hatchback) at 3.5 lakh rupees, and that the Datsun cars will be positioned under Nissan's range of cars, the Datsun GO is expected to feature a sub 3.5 lakh rupee price tag for its base variant.

However, the Datsun GO is expected to pack more value in terms of the features and space on offer, than what's offered by competitors's car models. The car comes with features such as a space saving dashboard mounted gear shifter and hand brake lever, a mobile docking point and a folding rear seat to liberate additional luggage space. Cost cutting bits include an Evalia-style open storage area on the glove box, single wiper for the front windscreen and front seats with integrated head rests. 

The Datsun GO measures 3,785mm in length, 1,635mm in width and 1,485mm in height. The car will be aimed at the likes of the Maruti Suzuki WagonR and the Hyundai i10. Featuring a high level of localization, the Datsun GO will be sold and serviced through Nissan dealerships in India. An independent dealership network could be in the pipeline once volumes pick up.