Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn today unveiled the Datsun GO, the first car from the revived Japanese brand, which has been relaunched after more than three decades of absence.
The new 5-door hatchback marks the rebirth of the Datsun brand and while India has been chosen for the reentry, parent Nissan plans to launch new cars under the brand in other high growth car markets like Russia, Indonesia and South Africa.
The Datsun GO has been completely developed in India and is said to be capable of being produced completely locally at Renault-Nissan's alliance plant in Oragadam, near Chennai.When it is launched in the first quarter of next year, the car will be priced below the Rs 4 lakh price range.
The hatchback sports dimensions of 3,785mm X 1,635mm X 1,485mm (LXWXH) and a wheelbase of 2,450mm. The GO will have a 1.2-litre petrol engine, which will be paired with a five-speed manual transmission. There are quite a few parts in the car's cabin that seem to have been borrowed from the Micra. For ease of use and practicality, the gear shift lever has been positioned on the dashboard, as also the hand brake lever.
Overall, fit and finish quality looks good. One unique addition in the cabin seems to be the dock station for the music system, in which the car user can connect a smartphone for streaming music.
The name of the new car has been inspired by the first Datsun, the DAT-GO launched almost a century ago in Japan.