Nissan to launch cheap brand in emerging markets like India, Brazil and Russia. When they say cheap basically means cars which are reliable, safe but with less gadgets and gizmos.
The Nissan Motor Co plans to launch the automobiles tailored for emerging markets under its old Datsun brand in 2014. A brand which was very popular will makes cars priced around 500,000 yen ($6,200) and will initially be built and sold in India, Indonesia and Russia.
Nissan hopes to sell 300,000 Datsuns a year soon once these cars make their official entry. Nissan has been pushing rapidly into emerging markets, including through a partnership with Ashok Leyland Ltd in India and a recently announced factory in Brazil, where it aims to triple its market share by 2016.
Most auto manufacturers are making the cars which are tailored for the emerging markets but Nissan is all going to launch a brand all together. A similar strategy followed by Mercedes-Benz which will soon launch the Bharat Benz brand in India.
Nissan along with Renault is targeting a larger share of the growing Indian auto market. The company has a production capacity with 400,000 units every year.
About the Datsun brand
The Datsun name was created in 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Co. for a new car model, spelling it as “Datson” to indicate its smaller size. Nissan took control of the company in 1933 and first changed the name from Datson to Datsun. Why? Because “son” also means “loss” in Japanese. issan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986.
