Datsun has revealed that they have sold 2,072 units of the GO hatchback since the car was launched on March 19. The car had created quite a buzz when Nissan, the parent company, had revealed last year that the car will be launched with a sub-four lakh price tag. Datsun managed to stay true to its promise and the car was launched with a price tag of Rs 3.12 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the base variant.
Despite being an entry-level hatchback, the Datsun GO is a spacious car, based on the old Nissan Micra, making it rank high on the value for money scale. The car is only available with a detuned version of Nissan’s three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol unit, producing 67bhp and 107Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox and it is available in four variants, with Nissan managing to keep even the top-end T variant under four lakh.
The Datsun brand was revived by Nissan as a platform to introduce budget cars in emerging markets. India is the first among these emerging markets to get the GO hatchback and the production of the GO had started at the Renault-Nissan manufacturing facility in Oragadam, Chennai about two months ago. The GO will be followed by the GO+, an MPV which was unveiled last month at the 2014 Auto Expo.
Prior to the car’s launch, Nissan had undertaken a few customer engagement programs, which ensured proper exposure for the brand and the hatchback. Nissan’s decision of engineering the product especially for India and launching it here first is a sign of the growing importance of the Indian car market, and as the sales figure indicates, the Indian customers seems to have developed a liking for the car.