The start of July saw Nissan introduce the model year Micra, and an economic range Micra Active that runs on a no frills philosophy. Certainly the company believes there is no overlap. The following dialogue can help understand brand Datsun. >What is the new Datsun brand going to bring to the world?
Nissan Motor Company CEO, Carlos Ghosn: A lot of new cars. Cars for people who are accessing the car market for the first time in their lives, of which there are many in the high-growth market. People are looking for reliability, looking for affordability and particularly, some basic functionalities in their car.
Datsun has done this for so many years. We’re are bringing it back and giving it a modern shape, with modern technology and we think it’s particularly aimed at the high-growth market, and addressing segments where today Nissan product has no offer.
So, Datsun is a complementary offer to Nissan and particularly in addressing younger consumers, rising consumers, consumers who are accessing the car market for the first time.
What’s necessary to succeed with the new brand like Datsun?
Ghosn: The first condition is that the car has to be modern. I don’t think people accept cars that are 20- or 25-years old any more, old platforms or cars that have been tuned a little bit here and there. It doesn’t work anymore.
They want fresh and new technology, they want good platforms and they want some basic choices. They want the car that has everything you need, nothing more and certainly nothing less.
[Datsun must be] extremely competitive on pricing, nothing should be put in the car that consumers are not ready to pay for.
So the car is going to be attractive and t’s also going to be of great value. There’s going to be technology, there’s going to be functionality and the price is going to make it extremely attractive.
It’s also going to be good-looking, with some basic functionality. In the case of this particular car, which is the first Datsun, the roominess is the best of its class and the fuel efficiency is the best of its class.
It’s going to be at very attractive price for India, below 400,000 rupees, which corresponds to a little bit less than $6,500 and makes it very attractive.
This is going to be the third brand for Nissan Motor Company, alongside the Nissan brand and Infiniti. What does Datsun bring?
Ghosn: Datsun will be introduced later in Indonesia, Russia and South Africa
It’s a complement to the Nissan brand. While Infiniti was a complement to the Nissan brand in the premium segment, Datsun is a complement in this particular segment of the high-growth market, where we have no offer.
There is no overlap, or very little overlap, between the brands. It allows us to have very strong brand attributes without over-extending these attributes where they don’t belong.
