It appeared as though it was game over for the Datsun brand in the United States especially in the 1980s after it came under Nissan. But about ten years later, things started looking up in other markets with demand for low-cost compacts.
However, that did not continue as Nissan has put a pause on the global production of its Datsun brand.
At this juncture, we have to bring it to your notice that the Datsun brand for Nissan is the creation of fugitive ex-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. He came up with the plan as a means to expand the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s footprint in places such as India, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and Russia.
According to Automotive News reports, a plant in Chennai, India, co-operated by Renault, which was the last factory manufacturing Datsun cars, halted production in March.
From every indication, all manufacturing of Datsun vehicles have stopped for the time being. However, all hope is not lost as the report has it that Nissan is considering making it an Electric Vehicle brand to cater to the emerging market.
We have to point it out here, that Ghosn’s Datsun is not the same with the original Datsun brand. The Original Datsun brand was available as far back as 1914 which is clearly before Nissan. It was with the original Datsun brand that we had vehicles like the amazing 240Z.
After it took up the global Nissan nameplate in 1983, it was not business as usual. In 2013, Carlos Ghosn resurrected it as a bargain basement label in his bid to grow Renault-Nissan into the largest auto making conglomerate in the world, with a plan to record 300,000 in sales per year.
Automotive News has it that they only recorded 470,000 sales over a period of eight years. Analyst group LMC Automotive, reported that sales in India nose-dived 40% in 2021.
Putting a halt to Datsun production is part of Nissan’s plan to recoup after Ghosn. They will now concentrate on making products that has been seen to have lengthy lifespans even better in every aspect, with the necessary updates. Their focus will no longer be to just go after market share no matter the cost.
As the Datsun production has come to a stop, another mark of the Ghosn era in Nissan has been done away with. There has also been an arrest warrant for Ghosn from France and there’s been some speculations that Renault is thinking about selling off some of Nissan shares. The Ghosn era in Nissan is really coming to an end.
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