Nissan has revived the Datsun brand that was launched in 2013 after three decades and it is hoping to catch the momentum of sales that it missed so far. The redi-GO compact car model is all set to hit the Indian roads in June. Now, the company is targeting the market that is dominated by Alto from Maruti Suzuki that sells 20,000 units per month.
Datsun is sold in countries such as India, Russia, Indonesia, and South Africa. The combined sales in all these markets have increased to 86,000 units in the last year that is a 70 percent increase from 50,000 units in the previous year. This is a significant increase in the sales and it is way off the target that Nissan had set. The Power 88 plan that was set by the auto maker for this year has estimated that Datsun will bring significant incremental volumes. The maker aims to sell 2 lakh units per unit in the current fiscal year in India. However, the cumulative sales for the past two years have not surpassed 50,000 units. Now, the company desires to change this situation.
Guillaume Sicard, the Nissan India Operations’ President, stated that they are a two year old brand and that they could have performed better with the GO sales, but they are still understanding the market in the country. He added that with the redi-GO, they will target the Alto segment. They will ramp up their distribution and also increase their network coverage in order to target the customers.
He added that though the Indian customers, especially those at the entry level prefer the established brands. The success of the Renault Kwid and similar vehicles shows that there is enough space to break away the tradition of the right product is provided at the right price.
Datsun made its redi-GO’s international premiere in New Delhi and the challengers will be Hyundai Eon and Alto 800 that are priced in the range between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 4.4 lakkh.
