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Positioned in the intensely competitive small car segment in the country, GO is pitted against best-sellers Maruti Suzuki Alto and Hyundai Eon. While the Alto 800 is priced between Rs 2.37 lakh and Rs 3.52 lakh, the Alto K10 is priced between Rs 3.15 lakh and Rs 3.31 lakh. Hyundai’s Eon is tagged between Rs 2.83 lakh and Rs 3.85 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).
The five-door front-wheel drive Datsun GO comes with a 1.2-litre engine, with a five speed manual transmission. However, the base variant of the GO does not have air conditioning and power steering.
Nissan Motor India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kenichiro Yomura said: “The Indian car market is very competitive and with Datsun we are entering a segment which we can’t address with the Nissan brand. We expect the Datsun brand to contribute half to one-third of Nissan’s sales in India.”
The company will launch three models under the Datsun brand by FY16, including multi-purposevehicle GO+.
Datsun Global Programme Director Ashwani Gupta said the global automotive market had undergone a shift, with high- growth markets such as India, Indonesia, Russia and Brazil contributing 40 per cent of the total sales. The proportion was expected to go up to 60 per cent by 2016-17, he added.
The entry-level Datsun GO is aimed at the first-time carbuyers. After its introduction in India, Datsun will be launched in Indonesia, Russia and South Africa.
Datsun GO is only the first of the 10 models Nissan has planned for launch in India by 2016. The company is aiming at covering 10 per cent market share in the automobile industry by 2016. It has also proposed to increase dealership networks to 300.
