Nissan to launch new entry level Datsun car in India next year

With a third entry level car from Datsun stable slated for launch next year, Japanese auto major Nissan is seeking a bigger play in India’s small car market dominated by Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

The company, which sold a total of about 17,000 units of Datsun vehicles in the country in the first year since the brand made a comeback last year, is looking at having around 60 exclusive showrooms of the brand, mostly in smaller towns by 2016.

“In the small car segment in India, Maruti commands around 75 per cent of the market and Hyundai 22 per cent. We were just about one per cent and have now have increased to 3 per cent with Datsun coming in,” Nissan India Operations President Guillaume Sicard told PTI.

He further said: “Nowhere else in the world you would find such a dominance by a single manufacturer. So we are looking to gradually increase our share in the segment.”

While he did not share an exact target, Sicard said: “In the first year of launch of the Datsun brand, we have sold around 17,000 units. In the next few weeks we will cross the 20,000 mark and going forward the aim is to take the number higher.”

Car sales in India stood at 18,76,017 units in 2014—15, up 4.99 per cent from 17,86,826 units in the previous fiscal.

Expressing confidence of gradually increasing sales of Datsun, he said: “We will have our third vehicle from Datsun brand, an entry level car next year.”

Originally, the third vehicle from Datsun was planned for launch in 2017 in India. In January this year, Nissan had launched compact multi purpose vehicle Datsun Go+ with price starting at Rs 3.79 lakh (ex—showroom Delhi).

Last year, Nissan launched the Datsun Go in India, marking the global comeback of the brand after nearly three decades.

Stating that the company had to focus on setting up infrastructure for spreading the reach of the Datsun brand, Sicard said in the first year it was a gradual ramp up and the company expected to gain momentum.

“We are opening many new small dealerships in tier II and III cities. We will have 60 showrooms that will focus on Datsun only by 2016 as part of Nissan’s overall plans to open 300 showrooms in India,” he said.

At present, Nissan has 21 showrooms exclusively for Datsun vehicles.

While the company had set an ambitious target of garnering 10 per cent share in the Indian passenger vehicles market by 2016, later on it said that due to slowdown in the automobile industry it would miss the target.

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