After 32 years since its discontinuation in 1981, the Datsun brand is back.
Nissan's decision to revitalise its old brand name gives the company a way to create a 'value' range of cars, much like Renault's Dacia brand. The renewed brand will be producing cars for emerging markets in regions such as Russia, India, South Africa and Indonesia; with its first small 'Go' model (pictured) already planned for production.
The new car is said to be aimed at first-time car buyers that want to move away from the used car market. The budget supermini will be revealed in these countries in April 2014 with a price tag below the equivalent of about €4,750 - with first deliveries expected in either August or September.
So, what's the new car all about? Well the small five-door hatchback is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine hooked up to a five-speed manual gearbox. While the Go is unlikely to see huge alloy wheels, LED daytime running lamps or heated leather seats appear in its options list, buyers can enjoy air conditioning as well as USB and aux-in connectivity.
In markets such as Russia, the introduction of this Datsun Go is expected to be a superb prospect for the company, as new car sales in the sub-€5,000 market are estimated to grow from 700,000 to 900,000 units by 2017. Nissan says that the Datsun brand would go head-to-head with Avtovaz's Lada; however this is unlikely to be a problem for long, as Nissan, together with its sister company, Renault, have plans to take control of Avtovaz before the first Go is delivered next year.
Anything else?
As well as the Datsun Go, the brand will also be launching the Go+, a larger, more MPV-style version of the Go complete with a bigger boot and two extra seats in the back. At this stage there are no plans to re-launch Datsun in Ireland.