Nissan to revive Datsun brand?
2012-03-02 09:05
MAKING A COMEBACK: The defunct Datsun badge will polished-up for budget-friendly models in emerging markets.
Nissan not only has plans for rapid expansion into emerging markets from 2014 but also to do so by reviving the Datsun brand.
The Japanese news media have reported that the first Datsuns will be built and sold in India, Indonesia and Russia and that sales could reach 300 000. No comment was available from Nissan.
Nissan has been pushing rapidly into emerging markets, partly through a partnership with Ashok Leyland in India, and a recently announced factory in Brazil will help to triple market share there by 2016.
BRINGING BACK THE PAST
The move would also follow the reboot of other auto industry brands discontinued in the 1970's and 80's, such as the Dodge Dart and the Toyota 86, which will be re-released in 2012.
Other Japanese automakers have developed models for emerging countries; Nissan's is believed to be the first brand created just for those markets, the reports said.