Is Nissan reviving its Datsun brand for a low-cost return in 2014?

Japan's Nikkei news service is reporting that Nissan is dusting the cobwebs off its Datsun brand, dropped back in 1986, and preparing it for a return in 2014. Loyalists will be disappointed to learn that the "new" Datsun badge won't be riveted to the nose of any upcoming Fairlady Z in the near future – it probably isn't even coming to North America. Instead, the report indicates that Nissan will use Datsun as a backup brand for low-priced vehicles manufactured and sold in emerging Asian markets. According to the Nikkei, Datsun-branded vehicles will be priced about 500,000 yen ($6,200 USD) with annual sales goals of about 300,000 units.

Rumors about Datsun's return have been circulating for years. But only now, with Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn pushing to expand the brand into new markets (e.g., Russia, India, Brazil and China), does it really start to make sense as way to protect the upmarket corporate Nissan identity from being associated with low-cost entry-level vehicles.

The return of Datsun is interesting, but a two-tier strategy is hardly new. For example, Volkswagen uses its entry-level SEAT and Skoda brands to capture the low-cost market (though the two have moved upscale), while General Motors (working with SAIC) recently launched Baojun to target first-time buyers in China. According to TheDetroitBureau.com, the Nikkei also notes that Nissan officials have not commented on the report.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/02/i...return-in-201/

 

Isn't that what infiniti is for

 

Infiniti*

 

Um... assuming you're not joking ...

But Infiniti is the upscale arm of Nissan. Datsun would be the low-cost division, below Nissan.

 

lol.. oops

What I meant was...

The article says:

But this is EXACTLY what nissan is supposed to be... the "lower tier" entry level cars. They don't need Datsun to do that.

Thats why they made infinity. Infiniti is SUPPOSED to be - the "upmarket" nissan identity that doesn't make low cost cars.

If nissan starts making luxury cars whats the point of infinity?

 

There are 3 tiers, I guess. Perhaps Nissan wants the Nissan brand to be the mainstream brand and avoid the really low-cost tier that are huge now in emerging markets in Asia. This Datsun brand would not really be comparable to Scion, which is a less expensive choice to Toyota for the North American market.

 

Nissan would be the main/middle level with Infiniti being the top tier and Datsun being the bottom tier. The article also says that the median price of Datsun product would be $6,200 USD. Nissan currently doesn't make many, if any, vehicles at that price point so apparently these would be completely new or new versions of existing cars under the Datsun brand.

Nissan would NOT become the top tier brand because Datsun exists. Remember, these are for emerging markets where the average buyer may not yet have the cash to spend on Nissan's current range of product.

 

Since the 2000's, imo, Nissan has become the low tier.....they're cars nowadays just scream CHEAP to me. The bodies look like plastic, and just have this lifeless look imo. Not to mention during the early 2000's their interiors were made from cheap plastic.

I've seen photos of recent interiors and I am not impressed.

 

Historically, didn't they change from Datsun to Nissan to get away from their bad quality?

 

You should see them in the real. Nissan now has some of the nicest interiors in their classes. Don't judge by photos.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun

 

I just want an old Z-car....

 

This should be interesting. I wonder what they will do to the Z.

 

they are basically making datsun a scion fighter

maybe we will see some cheap RWD, front-engine little sports car from Datsun soon?

 

Nissan confirms return of Datsun

It turns out the rumors were true: Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has officially announced the resurrection of the company's storied Datsun nameplate. The company will use the brand to strengthen its foothold in emerging markets from Indonesia to India and Russia, offering buyers inexpensive, fuel-efficient vehicles with loads of content ride out of the box. Last year, Nissan sold 60,000 units in the quickly growing Indonesian market, and the company aims to see that number swell to 250,000 units by 2014. That may seem ambitious, but total industry volume is set to balloon to nearly double its current size 890,000 units per year by 2017 according to analysts.

Datsun now marks the third brand in the Nissan stable alongside Infiniti. The automaker retired the Datsun nameplate in 1981 after reestablishing itself in the States as Nissan. With a new focus on low cost, small-displacement hardware geared toward emerging markets, we sadly don't expect to see the Datsun name reemerging on our shores any time soon

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/20/n...urn-of-datsun/