In the month April 2022, Nissan announced that they will discontinue the popular Datsun sub-brand in India. Following that, the automotive world rained with questions if Nissan is going to discontinue in India. The market was thus fueled with rumours about the Japanese company quitting India. However, the Japanese company later made it clear that they are deeply invested in India and have no plans of quitting.
Nissan reintroduced the heritage brand Datsun for high-growth markets such as India, Russia and Indonesia. Nissan began re-selling Datsun cars from the year 2014. After almost a decade, it then decided to shut down the Datsun cars. Nissan faced a lot of uncomfortable bumps in their journey in India. The brand Datsun didn’t facilitate chartbuster sales in India.
Nissan’s plan was to introduce the Datsun brand in the entry-level segment. The entry-level segment once used to be a demanding segment. However, it wasn’t the same with the customers. Car customers were evolving with time and demanded more aspirational vehicles. Thus Nissan was a bit late with their Datsun brand experiment in India.
Nissan planned a global transformation amidst all this. They decided to focus on core models and segments that can provide the most benefit to customers, dealer partners and the business. Nissan also assured its customers, that even if Datsun was shut down, Nissan would still provide the highest levels of after-sales service, parts availability and warranty support from their national dealership network.
Amidst different kinds of struggles being faced by Nissan, hope was sustained with the launch of the SUV Magnite that was launched in December 2020. Nissa Next, the company’s global transformation plan, launched the Magnite as the first vehicle in India in the year 2020. In the month of March 2022. The Magnite saw a milestone of one lakh-plus customer bookings with 50,000 production roll-outs.
Although Magnite had decent demands, the company is still stuck amidst challenges. The company’s sole production plant lies in Chennai. Nissan shares a market share of less than 1 % in India.
However, the company is putting great effort into the purpose. They are servicing customer demands in the domestic and 15 export markets through their manufacturing plant in Chennai. They have been trying to maximize production despite the challenges and also semiconductor shortages and Covid-19.
Managing Director, Nissan India, Rakesh Srivastava also highlighted back in April that its popular compact SUV had above 18,000 pending customer-booking on a waiting period of 5-6 months back then.
Yes, it is true that the company has faced many difficulties throughout their journey in India. However, the demands for their new venture and the acceptance of the SUV being shown by the customers leaves a gate open for a new future. The market has to be patient with the company to see whether there will be new beginnings. The Magnite presented a high range of expectations to the market and the company. We have to see whether it will provide a new life to the Nissan brand in India and create a foundation for further growth in the nation.
Thus amidst all the various challenges, Nissan is still trying their best to provide the car market in India, with the best of its services. From production units to providing services and facilitating parts availability, it is still thriving and is expected to continue its journey to the best of its capabilities.
