Nissan India, the Indian arm of the Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan has announced its decision to sell its resurrected Datsun brand directly through dedicated Nissan dealerships. The move by the carmaker marks a shift in its marketing strategy as up until now it has been selling cars through Hoover Automotive India, its exclusive distributor in India.
Datsun is a low cost brand by Nissan which has been revived by the carmaker to develop and sell low cost cars in the Indian car market. The first car model by the Datsun brand has been named the Datsun GO which will be launched in the month of January 2014. The new car model is claimed to be tagged with a price less than Rs 4,00,000 and will be equipped with a 1.2-liter petrol engine.
The Japanese car manufacturer expects to capture volume sales with its low cost brand and achieve a market share of 10 percent in India by 2016. According to the automaker, more auto products from Datsun will be launched in India to sustain growth and offer a large car portfolio. It currently holds 1.2 percent of the market share in India.