Reports in Japan on Friday said Nissan Motor is considering reviving the old Datsun name for new, cheap models designed for emerging markets (EM) in 2014. The company would not confirm or deny the reports or comment on future product plans.
Vehicles, priced at around Y500,000 yen (US$6,120), will initially be built and sold in India, Indonesia and Russia, the Nikkei reported. The brand would be positioned to compete with local brands on price with an annual sales target of 300,000 units a year as soon as possible after launch.
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Renault launched Dacia as a cheaper EM alternative to Renault-brand cars but also uses the Renault nameplate on Dacia models in some established markets. Western joint ventures with Chinese automakers have begun to establish cheaper, entry-level brands to target buyers especially in China’s so-called Tier Three and Four cities – GM’s Baojun and Shanghai Volkswagen’s Tantus are but two examples. While other Japanese automakers have developed models for emerging countries – Toyota’s Etios for India, China and South America, for example, Datsun would be the first new brand intended just for those markets.
Datsun – initially Datson – launched its first car in 1931, and started with small, inexpensive cars that could handle unpaved roads. The company that eventually became Nissan Motors took a controlling shareholding a few years later. It eventually grew to include 74 firms, including partsmakers and foundries, and was the fourth-largest combine in Japan by the second world war. From 1952, it made British Austins under licence for seven years, eventually developing its own Austin model and then used the British technology for a new line of its own engines. It merged with Prince in 1966, acquiring the Skyline and Gloria nameplates for sale under the Nissan brand, and Prince was soon dropped. The Datsun brand was progressively replaced by Nissan around the world in the 1980s and luxury brand Infiniti was launched – first in the US – in 1989.
Under the revived Datsun brand, models will be tailored to the specific needs of each market, Nikkei said. A minivan with three rows of seats will be developed for sale in Indonesia, for example. Toyota has a similar line called Innova which is sold under various nameplates in Asia and India.
The vehicles will meet safety standards but shed inessential features such as cabin noise reduction. They will use inexpensive parts and materials, and their warranty periods will be shorter than those of Nissans and Infinitis. The automaker also plans to set up Datsun dealerships with relatively low operating costs, Nikkei said.
Datsuns for India and Indonesia will feature Nissan’s low-cost V-platform, with 90% or more of their parts procured locally, the paper added. In India, a vehicle with an engine displacement slightly above one-litre is expected to sell for around 300,000 rupees, or roughly 500,000 yen less than half as much as Nissan’s March/Micra subcompact, which uses the same platform.
In Russia, Nissan intends to make use of AvtoVAZ platforms through Alliance partner Renault, the Nikkei said. The plan is to launch a 0.8-litre model, with the vehicles manufactured at AvtoVaz factories.
Nissan’s chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, has spoken of the high potential of the Datsun brand, Reuters noted. Toyota and Honda officials have said selling ultra-cheap vehicles would be difficult given the potential damage to their mass-market brands, respected for their reliability and quality.
Nissan would not confirm or deny the reports. Company spokesman Mitsuru Yonekawa declined to comment to Dow Jones on future product strategy.
Nissan said last June it wants an 8% global market share by the end of March 2017 as part of a six-year business plan, up from 5.8% in the fiscal year ended March 2011.
