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Datsun brand will shut down by 2022, new cars will be launched as Nissan

Written by Parichay Malvankar

There is just too much Datsun inventory we see on a month-on-month basis at Nissan dealerships. Cars are not selling, and just 6 years since the brand was resurrected, Nissan is set to pull the plug off the Datsun nameplate worldwide. Datsun was brought back to life to introduce affordable cars in emerging markets like India, Indonesia, South Africa, etc., but Datsun hasn’t really done well and by 2022, the nameplate will be gone. Of course, current customers will get support via Nissan / Datsun service centers, but no new cars will be launched after 2022 with the Datsun badge.

The Datsun redi-GO is a car which is undergoing a major update at the moment, and could be launched in 2020. This would be the last major update to any car from the Datsun stable. There would be no new cars launched after this one. The Go & Go+ cars will continue as is till the end of their life cycle. Once the redi-GO, Go & Go+ are close to their end of life, the Datsun brand will be wiped out.

A new Datsun SUV codenamed the EM2 which was on its way will be launched as a Nissan product. This compact-SUV built on a budget will be positioned probably as a rival to the Renault Triber. All new cars which will be based on the CMF-A platform will be sold with a Nissan badge, and by 2022-23 Datsun will only exist based on the cars we see on the streets.

Nissan will however have the current cars upgraded to meet BSVI emission norms and these cars will remain on sale even after March 2020 which is the deadline to meet the stringent emission requirements. Datsun has not only been brought in news due to their poor sales performance globally, but also because of the dismal crash test results which raised doubts on passenger safety on-board these cars. While safety features were given priority with updates to the cars, the negative PR made quite an impact on sales.

Nissan will not use the current Datsun cars rebadged as Nissan in the future.

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