Nissan, as a brand, in India has not seen as much success as it would have wanted to, and they are trying their best to get hold of the all important market share. Nissan currently has only 1.1% market share in the Indian market, and in order to help them gain more, Nissan will launch its sub-brand, Datsun in India. Datsun, which is more famously known as a Budget car brand, will be launched at the upcoming Auto Expo in February and their first offering for the Indian market will be the GO hatchback, which will compete with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ritz and Hyundai i10. The GO hatchback will be followed by the GO+ MPV, which will compete with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Chevrolet enjoy.
Nissan had first started-off in India with the help of Hover automotive in the marketing and distribution activities, but they won’t be making the same mistake with Datsun. Datsun is taking the Indian market very seriously and will have dedicated showrooms and service centres. As part of a publicity drive, Datsun will embark on a road-show spanning ten weeks, and covering more than a 100 cities, and will reach lakhs of people in this way. Through this, Datsun will create the brand awareness that it very much requires while launching the I2 hatchback that will compete with the Maruti Suzuki Alto. Currently, the Maruti Suzuki Alto rules the roost in the low-cost hatchback segment with a sales figure of nearly 20000 units a month, and the only competition it faces is, from the Hyundai Eon which sells nearly 10000 units a month. The Datsun I2 which will be launched by 2016 aims to take the place of the Hyundai Eon, in competing with the Alto.
It looks like, Datsun has Maruti Suzuki set as their target, as their first three cars are set to be competitors of Maruti Suzuki cars like the Ritz, Ertiga and Alto. This competition should be very interesting, as both Maruti Suzuki and Datsun are both low-cost, budget car manufacturing companies. This kind of competition is very healthy for the Indian automobile industry and because of this, the consumers also will have more options to choose from, while considering the purchase of a car.
Also see – Datsun Go Sedan and MPV rendered pictures
Source – The Financial Express
