Nissan to set up Datsun brand showrooms in Tier-2, 3 cities

Chennai, Nov 9 (IANS) Buoyed by increased sales of Datsun brand cars in Tier-2 and 3 cities, carmaker Nissan Motor India Private Ltd will increase its Datsun brand showrooms to 150 by this fiscal-end in these cities, a company official said.

"We will increase standalone Datsun brand showrooms to 150 by this fiscal-end. Datsun is not a sub-brand of Nissan. Datsun is an affordable brand, not a cheap brand, while Nissan is an exciting brand," Jerome Saigot, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India, told reporters on Thursday.

Currently, the number of standalone Datsun showrooms is 52.

He said the sales of the model in Tier-2 and 3 cities is high due to the overall package -- price, cost of ownership and competitive retail finance.

He was at the Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd's car plant that rolls out Renault, Nissan and Datsun brand cars to celebrate the rolling out of the 100,000th Datsun car.

He said the Datsun brand has received good customer acceptance over three years.

Currently, Nissan India has three models under Datsun brand -- Datsun Go, Datsun Go+ and Datsun redi-Go.

Not sharing model-wise sales numbers of Datsun brand cars, Saigot said a big portion of the sales is contributed by Datsun redi-Go.

According to Colin MacDonald, CEO and Managing Director, Renault Nissan Automotive, the capacity utilisation of the factory this year is around 50 per cent, down from 60 per cent last year.

According to MacDonald, the fall in capacity utilisation is due to shift in production of the Micra model to Europe.