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From Andy Palmer’s point of view, the revival of the Datsun brand goes hand-in-hand with India’s growing youth power.
“We are very much focused on the retention of today’s youthful and aspirational Indian customers. Given that a bulk of them is under 35, it translates into a wonderful opportunity for us,” the Executive Vice-President of Nissan Motor Company told Business Line at the recent Datsun unveiling in New Delhi.
It is these “young, motivated, aspirational and entrepreneurial” buyers who Nissan will woo with the Datsun. The idea is to bring them into the Japanese automaker’s family with an entry-level car and gradually take them through the entire hierarchy of vehicles.
Palmer uses the ‘ladder’ analogy to drive home this point. “You put something aspirational on the Datsun ladder and for those young customers seeking something more, you have the natural ladder to take them into the Nissan brand. And then it is even higher into the Infinity brand eventually,” he says.
Simply put, Nissan’s top priority is to create a ladder of vehicles in the price entry area of which the aspirational vehicle is the Datsun. The Micra Active, whose price brings it in direct competition with the Suzuki Swift and the Hyundai i10, is at the bottom of the Nissan ladder.
By the end of the day, it is this price range of Rs 3-6 lakh which accounts for over two-thirds of car volumes in India. “You need a car priced at sub-Rs 4 lakh in order to be in the game,” says Palmer.
In the same breath, he is quick to reiterate that Datsun is not cheap and, on the contrary, represents a lot of value for money. “It is clearly Japanese DNA which explains why we chose the Datsun name,” he says.
The brand’s tagline of dream, accessibility and trust has been carefully thought through and is intended for the rising Indian middle-class with monthly incomes upwards of Rs 40,000.
“Spending that proportion of income does not mean you buy an unreliable, cheap car but something which represents who you are, which is being a successful businessman or entrepreneur,” says Palmer. The Datsun is a brand new car and “not something that is going to be palmed off” after being used elsewhere.
According to him, India is one country where the Renault-Nissan duo has come much more closely than any other part of the world. It is actually the first such manufacturing alliance with the next scheduled to happen in Russia. The back-end expertise comes from the alliance’s engineering centre in Chennai as well as from Nissan’s ally for light commercial vehicles, Ashok Leyland, with its Defiance Technologies arm.
With strong capabilities in place for cars and pickups, Palmer believes India represents a critical global powerhouse with “an amazing amount of almost latent talent”. As he quips, “My boss (Carlos Ghosn) values frugal engineering and I value engineering – the good news is that you can find both in India.”
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