Nissan has relaunched its Datsun brand with a supermini aimed at emerging markets. The Datsun Go is a small five-door, five-seat hatchback which will initially be sold in India costing “less than” 400,000 Indian rupees (£4400).
The Go is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. It is 3785mm long, 1635mm wide and 1485mm high, endowing it with roughly the same footprint as a Nissan Micra, although the Go is 40mm lower. Its wheelbase is identical to the Micra.
Datsun will offer equipment including an MP3 dock and air-conditioning. However, Indian media reports Datsun is considering introducing a cut-price, entry-level version which could cost as little as 240,000 rupees (£2645). Such a model would cost around £200 more than the most expensive Tata Nano.
The Go has been developed in India and will be locally produced. It is the first of "several" models which will launch in late 2014 in Indonesia, Russia and South Africa.
The Go marks the return of Datsun after a 30-year absence and is designed to fill the gap at the lower end of the market, below the cheapest Nissan and Renault models. The relaunch follows Renault’s expansion of the budget Dacia brand.
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Yeah you are absolutely
Yeah you are absolutely right.That is why the Tata Nano did not become a hit.While the company did get a lot of initial orders,about 200,000 of them,I would say,in India,people do not buy cars that reek cheapness and have "cheap" associated with them.That is the reason why Tata Nano could not sell as much as the Maruti Suzuki Alto despite the fully loaded version being cheaper. Another example is the Dacia Logan,which was rebadged as a renault and sold in collaboration with Mahindra&Mahindra of India. While it was cheaper than many small sedans in India such as the Maruti Suzuki swift dzire and Tata Indigo,it was never a hit because it,like i said reeked cheapness and came with a lot of ergonomic glitches such as wiper stalks being in place of light stalks and rear power windows being postitioned on the floor.
As a result it did not sell in huge numbers and the Joint venture collapsed, with the Mahindra being provided the rights to sell logan( it sells as the rebadged verito).
Mahindra competing with Suzuki and Honda has developed a notchback form of the Logan called verito vibe to increase sales
Apart from the retro 50's handbrake.....little to love!
When Datsun's appeared in the early 70's the fact that they had loads of extra features as standard was their USP. This just looks like they're offering something fairly basic because that's what they believe emerging markets want. The Tata Nano might have been what the company believed the Indian market wanted, but most people want a car they can show off to their neighbours, not be embarrassed about so quite clearly even first-time car buyers want something better for their cash. Basic should be stylish, surely, so that when you've bought the car you don't feel that you've compromised rather than chosen the best you can for the money.
Yuck !!!
As an Indian I feel ashamed to see this low budget "Datsun" branded car launched in India. Cheapness is one thing but this looks incredibly ugly. I don't understand why the Japanese are unable to design a properly good looking car ?
Low budget does not mean Indians buy them by closing their eyes. When the Tata Nano was launched, many journalists predicted that it is going to fill all the roads in India but it did not happended. Tata Nano is not a hot selling car. In fact in many places it is quite rare to see one. The cheapness associated with it prevented the people to buy.
Also the hot selling small car for Suzuki India is Swift rather than Alto. Cheapness does not necessarily mean business.