Nissan Datsun brand resurrects in emerging

The fashion designer Rebecca Nelson, of New Delhi, is the kind of consumer that Nissan is trying to attract to resurrect the Datsun brand: someone with a tight budget and you are looking to buy the first car. The problem is that she never heard of the brand. "What is Datsun?" he asked the designer, who earns about $ 400 a month and use the subway to go to work. "If I decide to spend my savings on a car, I'll bet on a brand known and tested."
Nissan is bringing back the Datsun after abandoning it in 1981, in favor of the automaker's first name. Sold mainly in the United States and Europe in the past, Datsun became famous in the years 70 for its fuel economy during the years of the oil shock. The President of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, the Brazilian-French account with the offer of new technology at low prices to overcome the fact that the Datsun is not known in emerging markets, where the brand will be sold.
The first new Datsun, a hatch that Nissan should throw in India with price estimated at $ 6.6 billion, is expected to be revealed this month and arrive at dealers from 2014.
Within two years, Nissan hopes to introduce the brand in Indonesia, Russia and South Africa. Ghosn is another step to compete in all segments of the fast-growing developing countries. It is also the other side of Nissan's Infiniti unit, which is being revitalized an eye on Chinese millionaires.
"Nissan held that there is a huge potential in the emerging market, which requires models (of car) more economical," says Ammar Master, an analyst at LMC Automotive, in Bangkok. "Without the Datsun, the company would have difficulty growing quickly in emerging markets." The Datsun's return follows a bet of $ 5 billion made by Ghosn on electric vehicles that until now was well short of expectations. Nissan has reduced prices of all its models of Leaf line after failing to meet sales goals in the last two years.
"He has to take a rabbit from the hat," says Edwin Merneer, President of Atlantis Investment Research in Tokyo. "Does he not years finds a creative solution. Did he lost his magic? "asks. Nissan's shares have risen 34 percent this year, compared with 39% advance of the Tokyo Stock Exchange index and the high of 60% of the rival Toyota.
The automaker, which relies heavily on China, was more affected than rivals Toyota and Honda after a territorial dispute between the Chinese and Japanese Governments lead to a rejection of the brands of Japan among Chinese consumers. In the United States, Nissan had record sales in June after lowering the price of several models.
Replacement. With the Datsun, the company will move on to compete in a market in which was not inserted: the cars that are used in countries such as Indonesia and India by consumers who are evolving in the chain. Many of them see the cheaper cars as a replacement to the motorcycle. Nissan's vision is that revitalize the Datsun is easier than creating a completely new brand to the thread. The idea of the company is to gain quickly recognition between the popular vehicles.
"The greater risk is not doing anything," said Ghosn. The choice to resurrect a name that was dormant for more than 30 years also avoids the use of Nissan brand vehicles are not suited to your placement. In the United States, its best-selling model is the Altima, which costs from $ 21,760. The "sister" Renault uses the same strategy of Nissan: is resuming the brand Dacia for most popular vehicles.