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Nissan India to build 10,000 units/month of the Datsun Go?

17th September 2013, 14:26 by JayPrashanth

The Datsun Go hatchback was showcased in India a couple of months ago, in the run up to the car's official launch and price announcement early next year. The car is the first low cost model that the Datsun brand will play host to. Nissan has resurrected the Datsun badge as a low cost brand that will operate in emerging car markets across the globe.

Datsun cars will be priced and positioned below similar sized Nissan offerings in order to maintain a clear brand distinction. Datsun cars are expected to be locally built with extensive local sourcing to keep costs low. Initially, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa will be the major production hubs for Datsun cars.

An AutocarPro report suggests that Nissan India will build 10,000 units of the Datsun Go each month. Given the fact that the total monthly domestic volumes of Brand Nissan in India is well under 5,000 units, the Japanese car maker seems to be betting big on Brand Datsun for its volumes push.

An interesting read, Nissan India: The Way Forward.

It would be interesting to see whether Nissan's minimal dealer footprint is able to support the ambitious push in volumes led by Brand Datsun. Notably, Datsun cars would be sold and serviced through existing Nissan dealerships. The current crop of Nissan dealerships are expected to have separate areas to display Datsun cars along with separate sales forces to handle the low cost brand.

The Datsun Go shares parts with the Micra and is powered by the same 1.2 liter-triple cylinder motor that powers the current versions of the Micra Active and the Micra Facelift. Given the fact that the Micra Active starts at a price tag of 3.5 lakh rupees and that Datsun cars will sit below equivalent Nissan models, the Datsun Go's starting price is expected to be pegged well under the 3.5 lakh rupee mark.

At that price level, the Datsun Go could rub shoulders with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, Hyundai Eon and the Chevrolet Spark. The Alto 800 and the Eon, between themselves account for about 25,000 units in sales per month despite the sales slowdown. Given the difficult economic climate in India, it is unlikely that Nissan will be able to sell 10,000 units of the petrol powered Datsun Go each month. Therefore, a chunk of Datsun Go hatchbacks produced in India could head towards export destinations.

Notably, Nissan exports more cars from India than it sells domestically. The Datsun Go will be built at Renault-Nissan's joint manufacturing facility situated at Oragadam, off Chennai. This facility will also play host to the second Datsun hatchback, code-named the i2, which Nissan India plans to launch next year. The 800 cc, petrol engined i2 could is expected to be priced between 2.5-3 lakh rupees, as the least priced Datsun car to be sold in India.

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