Datsun cars won't have rebadged siblings

Nissan’s Micra hatchback can be bought as a Renault Pulse, the same goes with the Duster which gets the name Terrano wearing a Nissan badge. This strategy used by the Japan-based Nissan and French car maker Renault won’t apply when it comes to Datsun. 

It is no surprise then that Datsun GO is the cheapest car in Nissan’s range of products. Based on the Micra, the GO won’t be of much interest to Renault; however the next product to follow the GO, the GO+ MPV, could be of interest to Renault. But, Nissan says that there won’t be cross-badging of Datsun models with Renault.

"As of now, there are no plans to cross-badge Datsun models with Renault," Ajay Raguvanshi, VP (business development) of Nissan Motor said at the launch of Datsun GO hatchback. 

Raghuvanshi added that Nissan had gone for cross-badging three of its models with Renault, namely Micra, Scala and Terrano.

He also said that Datsun would have three models in its stable in India by 2016. The three products would most probably be the recently launched GO, GO+ MPV and Redi-GO concept-based small crossover. Nissan is also in the process of strenghthening its dealer points and service centres across the nation. 

According to our reliable sources the Redi-GO will be launched by the end of 2015 and may be priced lower than the GO and could form its own segment and may spin a lot of profit for Nissan.

It isn’t surprising as Nissan has big plans for the Datsun brand in developing countries, especially India. And also, there is a certain level of safety and luxury that one expects from brands like Nissan and Renault which will be hard to justify with cars built to a price. 

For more details on the Redi-GO concept click here

Source: ET