It’s Datsun that gets Nissan going in the local market

Datsun Go has contributed to over half of Nissan’s sales in April and will underpin the Japanese carmaker’s growth in the Indian market, according to Kenichiro Yomura, President, Nissan Motor India.

Following its launch in March this year, marking the global revival of the Datsun brand, the company has sold over 5,000 units of the Datsun Go compact car, contributing to over half of Nissan’s total sales.

In April, the company sold over 2,600 units of Datsun Go compared to Nissan’s total sales of 5,300 units, including Nissan brands Micra, Sunny and the SUV Terrano. This is over four times its sales in April 2013 when it sold 1,200 cars.

For Nissan, “realisation of its concept dream for Datsun is more important than volumes”, emphasised Yomura. But the Datsun Go’s contribution to sales has lived up to expectations. This is despite tough market conditions, when given the current political and economic situations, customers are slow to make purchase decisions, he said.

Nissan India, which decided to break its marketing tie-up with Hover Automotive India to go it alone, has managed a smooth transition. It faced some challenges on recruiting engineering staff, but is on the job now, he said.

In an interaction with journalists with The Hindu group on Tuesday, Yomura said increasing customer satisfaction is important to Nissan, which will soon launch a service campaign with the first phase covering 66 dealers in 54 cities. This will be followed up with similar campaigns covering its entire network of 116 service outlets.

Another major initiative is the establishment of a nearly 5 lakh sqft of after-sales parts distribution centres that will ensure it meets orders for spares from any service location in India on the same day. It will stock over 20,000 parts and is capable of handling 2,800 lines a day. This is the main hub, with regional depots planned in Mumbai and Delhi soon.

The facility has been set up by third-party service provider Indospace SKCL Industrial Park in Sriperumbudur, an industrial hub near Chennai.