NEW DELHI: Betting big on the Indian hatchback market, Nissan has unveiled Datsun'ssub-Rs 4,00,000 car 'Go' in India. 'Go' which is a 5-seater, 5-door hatchback, is Datsun's first car in India, and will be launched in early 2014.

Powered by a 1.2 litre petrol engine, Datsun will also sell the car in South Africa in the later half of 2014. The hatchback will take on Hyundai's new hatchback (BA - which is the next generation i10) and Maruti Suzuki's new small car YL7 (which is a cusp of Zen Estilo and AStar).

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said, "Datsun will help many realise the dream of a car ownership." He said that Nissan (and Datsun) aims to capture 10% marketshare by 2016.

He said the launch of the Datsun brand in India is part of the company's strategy to increase sales from emerging markets.

"We have a market share of little over 1.2 per cent in India at present. We are looking to take it to 10 per cent in the mid term (2016). We expect Datsun to play a significant role in this," Ghosn added. It will be manufactured at the Renault Nissan plant in Chennai.

Earlier this month, ET got an exclusive firsthand experience of it at the headquarters. It is a contemporary looking vehicle for its segment, with impressive styling cues promising to deliver class leading seating and luggage space, which is one of the biggest needs of an Indian consumer.

To make Datsun cars affordable, Nissan has been aiming to reduce manufacturing costs to $3,000 to $5,000 per vehicle. The first car is due for a launch in India early next year and Nissan's programme director for Datsun, Ashwani Gupta said the company has partially achieved the cost goals.

Still, as price-competitive as that may be, it will face formidable competition from Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor Co, which together control two-thirds of India's passenger car market, excluding SUVs and vans.

Maruti has about 1,200 retail stores in India, while Hyundai operates a network of more than 350 stores. Nissan, by contrast, has only about 100 dealers, though it says it plans to triple the number of its stores to 300 by March 2017.

Nissan said last year it would revive the Datsun name as a marquee for emerging markets, starting with India, Russia and Indonesia. Eventually, it wants to expand into Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

To make the new name stick, Nissan does not plan to stop with a sub-Rs 400,000 car. It plans to expand the Datsun brand's appeal by following its first car with a second model by the end of next year and a third vehicle by 2016.

Nissan is still trying to meet the goal of producing a Datsun car for as little as $3,000 per vehicle, said an executive speaking on condition of anonymity.

"If we met that, there would be a good possibility we could offer the car for $4,000 on the retail market," the executive said.

That is not as cheap as the Nano, but Nissan is not aiming to compete head-on with the Nano any way, the executive said.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com