In our reality check, it’s been a year since the return of the Datsun brand in emerging markets around the world, and they’re now gearing to expand the reach.
Emerging market is a term often given to third world countries, poorer nations where owning a car for most is a new concept, and even at entry level, an expensive one at that.
For Nissan, the Datsun brand was a way to sell cheaper cars than they’d normally associate with their name.
Over 100,000 of the Datsun Go model have been sold in India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa.
And now the brand is looking to expand into other parts of Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and potentially beyond.
And in that light they showed the Datsun GO-cross Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show last week which takes their inexpensive Go and gives it the crossover treatment.
The concept shows the vision of expansion for the Datsun brand line.
In the markets where the Datsun brand has been launched, Nissan has been celebrating the way the basic experience of owning a new car has transformed the lives of their owners and families. It’s a hard thing for us Americans to perhaps grasp, as we sometimes take car ownership for granted.
That said, our relative wealth as a nation still leaves many of us in search of basic reliable and inexpensive new vehicles that many brands operating here have moved upmarket from – even Nissan. Our base entry level new cars, are hardly bargain basement anymore.
My point? I think Nissan and other brands ought to consider the potential space here in the North American market for something like a bargain priced Datsun without all the extra crap that makes cars expensive. Maybe the youth supposedly disinterested in cars might just bite. Just saying.
