Nissan will be launching cheaper cars under the Datsun brand in India. The upcoming Datsun Redi-Go will be priced at around Rs. 3 lakhs to compete with the Tata Nano and Maruti Alto.
The Japanese car maker Nissan has had a lukewarm sales response in India till date. Most of its products haven’t been able to generate much interest which led to the brand discontinuing a few cars which were imported as CBUs. But, Nissan hasn’t given up just yet. It bought the Datsun brand to India last year and launched the GO and GO+ here. Now, it plans to launch cheaper Datsun cars in India like the Redi-GO which will be positioned below the GO hatchback and will be smaller in size.
Nissan had displayed a concept compact car at the 2014 Auto Expo and the Redi-GO will be based on it. Developed on a new car platform produced by Renault-Nissan, the Redi-GO has been designed and engineered within the country to keep costs in check. In order to further reduce costs, lighter materials would be used in production of the car and the number of components used would be lesser. Taking on the segment leader, Maruti Suzuki Alto would be very difficult considering the sales numbers it manages.
Targeting a five percent market share by 2020, Nissan has turned its attention towards safety too. The Datsun GO had failed crash tests miserably and Nissan was advised to make some changes. They will soon add a driver side airbag to the Datsun GO in order to make it safer for the passengers. Another point worth mentioning is that they have clearly stated that though the Redi-GO car platform is lighter and cost-cutting will be done, they wouldn’t compromise on safety and quality. It is a responsible move from the auto giant.
