Datsun Go Road-show campaign begins

The first Datsun is all set to go on sale in India. The Go hatchback will be its first product and the company is leaving no stone unturned to give it maximum exposure prior to its launch to create as much brand awareness as possible. 

Parts of the strategy involves displaying the Go at prominent locations in tier 1 cities to begin with and then extend their reach to smaller towns in the coming weeks starting today. Ajay Raghuvanshi, VP, Business management, Datsun India said, “The Datsun Go is a mass market product so we are aiming at showcasing it in as many cities as possible and let the customers touch and feel the car and let us know what they expect out of it.” He added that having a good product is important but reaching your customer and delivering the car quickly is equally important.

Once Datsun concludes the roadshow, they plan to begin mass production around March with a launch slated for April. Although the car has been designed and formulated with the Indian customer in mind, the roadshow is the first time the car will be showcased as a finished product. Keeping this in mind, the variants and features will be driven by what the customers demand in this campaign and production plans will be set accordingly.

Nearly 100 percent components of the Datsun Go is locally sourced expect for tyres (which come from Indonesia) and a few other parts. Add to that a large percentage of parts from the Micra-Pulse parts bin and it’s easy to understand how a large hatchback like the Go can be priced under Rs 4 lakh for the entry level variant. Datsun has taken plenty of steps to keep costs down. The rear view mirrors adjust manually from the outside, the headrests are built into the seats, there is no glove box in the car, there’s much lesser damping material for sound insulation and the interior material quality is a bit disappointing.

But these are thoughts that come to a customer’s mind much later. Remember that Datsun is targeting a lot of first time buyers with fairly basic criteria of picking a car – lots of space, ease of ownership, low cost of maintenance and good styling. Space is ample with the bench like front seats. We know it’s not officially a six-seater, but the ‘jugaad’ way of transportation is something Datsun is banking on being the Go’s USP. The second row of seats is fairly large for three passengers to sit abreast too. Style is relative to the individual, though we think Nissan has done a good job in the design department.

Tackling the ease of ownership aspect is the difficult part. Most manufacturers in India besides Maruti and Hyundai have faced a tough time acing it. It will be interesting to see how Datsun tackles it. 

Low cost of maintenance is expected from Datsun with the Brand’s product positioning. Although Datsun is sharing parts with the Micra and Pulse, the Go’s numbers in itself need to be high enough to keep part costs down. The Go to begin with will go on sale through Nissan’s existing 117-strong dealer network, 60 percent of which is in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. The aim is to have a total of 350 group dealerships in the next three years which will include standalone Datsun showrooms too. This should give the brand good reach across the country.

To ensure no cannibalizing happens at the dealer level, Datsun will have dedicated resources for its own products.