Carlos Ghosn, the man who has headed the Renault-Nissan alliance since 2005, relaunched the Datsun brand in 2012. “I’m sure everyone knows that yesterday we announced the revival, the relaunch, of the Datsun brand as a complement to, on the one hand, Infiniti, and on the other, Nissan,” said the then chief executive of Nissan.
The executive, known for his focus on mass sales at competitive prices, saw Datsun’s relaunch as an opportunity to offer cheap models in high-growth emerging markets.
“A lot of people in these markets today drive motorcycles, some drive used cars, others may buy a new car but in fact it’s old-fashioned with very old technology and a very old platform — cars that have been around for 20 years,” he said after the announcement of the return of Datsun. “What we want to offer is a modern and affordable car, something that people are happy to have, a product that is generous, that gives them exactly what they want and at an affordable price.”
The plan seemed good. In 2012, Nissan saw a possibility of attracting more customers in the entry-level segments, however, Ghosn recognized that in all the markets in which Nissan was present there was a price level at which it could not compete because it had no offer. “This means that in India we miss 40% of the market, in Russia we miss 40% of the market, and what we think will be 40% of the market in Indonesia will miss us,” he said in 2012.
Instead of offering more affordable versions of Nissan models, Ghosn decided to revive Datsun – which was phased out in the 1980s – and give it a low-cost approach to position it in Russia, India and Indonesia. “There is no risk. We only see an opportunity. The risk is doing nothing,” he said. However, the plan did not work out and only a decade after its relaunch.
The origin of the Datsun brand
Datsun emerged in Japan as DAT-GO (the DAT car) almost a century ago, in 1914. The word DAT means “fast as lightning” in Japanese, but it is also a reference to the first letters of the last names of the three drivers of the brand: Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi. The same acronyms were used to promote the brand as Durable, Attractive and Reliable, or DAT for short.
In 1933, Nissan founder Yoshisuke Aikawa took over the business with a vision of “mobility for all.” The introduction of a lightweight, inexpensive yet tough car to meet the aspirations of young Japanese in the early 1930s was called the ‘son of DAT’, Datson, later changed to Datsun.
Datsun was one of the brands that helped Nissan in its internationalization strategy in Europe, the United States and Asia after World War II. The brand boomed amid the oil crisis in the 1970s. Then the fuel-efficient Datsun models were marketed as the choice of the everyday motorist looking for an alternative to unreliable gas guzzlers.
Which came first Nissan or Datsun?
Datsun was successfully marketed for almost three decades in Mexico. The brand even arrived in the country before Nissan, in 1959. Then the corporation was installed first as a marketer of Datsun brand vehicles, to evolve two years later, in 1961, and become Nissan Mexicana.
Both brands were sold in the market until the mid-1980s. The Datsun 710 and Datsun A10 models were assembled at the plant in Cuernavaca, Morelos, in the CIVAC industrial zone, in the 1970s.
Today there are still some Datsun models rolling on Mexican streets.
Globally, around 20 million Datsun cars were sold in 190 countries. However, the name was phased out starting in 1981 with the aim of boosting Nissan as the company’s main brand globally.
Datsun’s return
The brand was out of circulation until 2012, when Nissan announced the return of the Datsun brand and sold cars under the name in countries such as India and Indonesia. At the time, like many rival automakers, Nissan was facing weak markets in Europe and the United States and targeting emerging economies with lower-priced models.
But sales of the models never really caught on and had plummeted in recent years. Some of the models were even involved in controversy because they did not meet the minimum security conditions. The Datsun GO model, which failed crash tests conducted by the Global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).
Based on crash results, the Datsun GO earned zero stars for adult occupant protection and only two stars for child occupant protection. His vehicle’s structure collapsed in the crash and he was rated unstable.
“The lack of airbags in the car meant that the driver’s head made direct contact with the steering wheel and dashboard; dummy readings indicate a high probability of life-threatening injuries. However, the body failure makes it redundant to install an airbag,” Global NCAP said.
the second goodbye
Nissan said on Monday it will now focus on “core models and segments that provide the greatest benefit to customers, dealer partners and the business” as part of a global transformation strategy.
The company will continue to sell its remaining stock of Datsun cars and once it comes to an end, it will provide after-sales services to their owners. “We can assure all current and future Datsun owners that customer satisfaction remains our priority,” the Nissan spokesman added.
