Datsun has today unveiled the first new Datsun car for the 21st century. The all-new Datsun GO will be on sale in India in early 2014.

The Datsun GO is the realisation of the commitment made by Nissan in March 2012 to return the Datsun brand to the marketplace. Datsun is the third brand for the Nissan Motor Company along with the company’s Nissan and Infiniti brands.

“This is an historic day for Nissan Motor Company and for our customers and partners in some of the world’s fastest-growing markets. It’s also an exciting moment for many women and men here in India who – today – come one step closer to realising the dream of purchasing a car,” said Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Motor President and CEO, when unveiling the car.

The five-door, front-wheel drive hatchback will come with a 1.2 liter engine paired with a five-speed manual transmission.

With comparatively compact dimensions on the outside (width – 1635mm; height – 1485mm; length– 3785mm), the designers have nevertheless been able to increase space on the inside by granting the car a wide stance and large wheelbase (2450mm).

In terms of the styling, Koji Nagano, Datsun Executive Design Director, said the objective was to create a “clear and robust” design language.

“It was also very important to aim straight at the trends of the time and not attempt to pull any tricks. We tried to install these values in the car, from understanding the expectations of our customers.

“Our Datsun may be the first car that many of our clients are buying. It needs to have car-like qualities, as well as be very quick and sporty. The basic essence of what people want in a car, such as being solid and modern, is also important and we have made efforts to include them in the design,” he explains.

While Nissan Motor’s Global design centre in Japan was responsible for the GO’s styling, R&D and engineering development for the project were entrusted to local engineering resources and suppliers to ensure the product would suit local market conditions, preferences, tastes and needs, and would be accessible in terms of price and supply.

Datsun GO is expected to be “a category up” in its price range, priced below INR 400,000. The name of the new car is inspired by the first Datsun, the DAT-GO, launched almost a century ago in Japan.

Datsun models will be individually developed for different markets, but the concept will follow a common inspiration. Datsun GO will be the first of several Datsun models that will be launched later in 2014 in Indonesia, Russia and South Africa.

The new GO will be produced at one of the Renault-Nissan Alliance factories at Oragadam, in Chennai.

Source: Datsun

Tags: car design, Carlos Ghosn, Chennai, DAT-GO, Datsun, GO, India, Koji Nagano, Oragadam, Renault-Nissan Alliance