Nissan, a Japanese automobile industry, on Wednesday announced that it is discontinuing the Datsun brand in India. The company also kicked off a marque’s global relaunch in the country nine years ago.
Before this, in 2020, the company had also stopped production in Russia and Indonesia along with two other countries, South Africa and India, which were the key markets targeting the entry-level car segment.
Confirming the move to discontinue the Datsun brand, Nissan said in a statement, “Production of Datsun redi-Go has ceased at the Chennai plant, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd.” Sale of the model is still going (till the stock lasts).
The company further added, “We assure all existing and future Datsun owners that customer satisfaction remains our priority, and we will continue the highest level of after-sale service, parts availability and warranty support from our national dealership network”.
The company has already terminated the production of two other models under the Datsun brand ━ entry-level small car Go and compact multi p[urpose vehicle GO+.
The company announced ‘Nissan’s global transformation strategy’ in 2020 and the Datsun brand is a part of it.
“As a part of Nissan’s global transformation strategy, Nissa is focusing on core models and segments that bring the most benefits to customers, dealers, partners and the business. In India, it includes an all-new, locally produced Nissan Magnite with over 100,000 customers ordered to date”, Nissan India said.
In July 2013, the auto major Nissan had globally relaunched Datsun with the entry-level ‘Datsun Go’ in India.
The two models ━ redi-Go and compact multi-purpose vehicle Go+ failed to make their mark in the highly competitive Indian market of the compact segment dominated by Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.
When it was relaunched, the Nissan Motors Co-President and CEO Carlos had pinned hope that Datsun would play a big role in the company’s growing market shares to 10% in India in 2016, up from 1.2% in 2013. However, the company failed to meet the expectations later.
