Nissan forays into entry-level car space with Datsun redi-GO

June 07, 2016 01:37 pm | Updated December 05, 2021 09:04 am IST - CHENNAI

Nissan is working on a two-pronged strategy to push its newly-launched entry-level Datsun redi-GO into a car of choice of urban India.

Detailing the entry-level game plan of the Japanese carmaker, Guillaume Sicard, president of Nissan India, however, admitted that challenge on hand was a tough one for the company.

The immediate task was to ensure that Datsun redi-GO got into the top of the mind of prospective young Indian car buyer, he said. That meant that Nissan had to beef up its communication strategy, he added. Mr. Sicard indicated that Nissan would rely significantly on digital tools to reach out to its clients. Simultaneously, the Japanese company was also working an elaborate action plan to reassure prospective customers on the service quality and the value for money proposition offered by Nissan. In this context, he pointed to the efforts of Nissan in gauging the consumer feedback through clinic tests and extensive training of its sales personnel in pushing the Datsun brand.

He said India was among the four countries where the Datsun brand was not present historically. Though it was not present in countries such as Russia, Indonesia and South Africa, the Datsun brand awareness was very much there, he said. “Awareness about Datsun in India is close to nil,” he added. Read against this backdrop, he indicated that Nissan had the task cut out for its entry-level play in India.

Fielding a range of questions, he said Nissan would focus on satiating the domestic needs for Datsun redi-Go. As such, he said there won’t be any mass export of Datsun redi-Go in the near-term at least, he added. To a question, he, however, said Datsun redi-GO , though designed for India, was also planned for export as well.

He said Datsun redi-Go would have 98 per cent local content. To a query, he said that the India mass market (for entry-level cars) had enough space for more players. He expected Nissan to have a 5-per cent market share in the Indian passenger car space. At the moment, it has less than two per cent share. He reiterated that the focus of Nissan would be on providing value for money. The company exported around 110,000 vehicles last year and sold 45,000 domestically. The export number would be slightly below 90,000 this year, he said.

To a question, he said that the global original equipment manufacturers had not fully understood the propensity of the Indian consumers to go for new things. “They (Indian customers) get easily bored. Soo, you need to constantly refresh the products,” he said.

Datsun redi-GO will be offered in five variants. Nissan promises that the car offer best-in-class features in terms of fuel use, safety and comfort. It is also coming out with aggressive warranties. And, it has tied up with My TVS to provide service facilities in Tier II and III towns.

Datsun redi-GO is the third offering from Datsun stable. Renault-Nissan alliance factory at Oragadam near Chennai has, in the meanwhile, commenced its third shift to take care of the emerging demand with the launch of Datsun redi-GO.

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