Nissan has been a strong name in the automotive circuit across the globe. But in India, the Japanese carmaker Nissan seems to be hit with bad time in comparison to its competitors. Nissan had breathed life into the Datsun brand that had been forgotten long ago. Nissan had placed high hopes in terms of sales for the Datsun’s Go hatchback and anticipated that the brand may assist in driving-in a good sales numbers. Things do not seem to be moving as planned for Nissan now with just about 1,500 - 2,000 units of Datsun Go being sold in a month, the numbers reportedly does not even near 15 – 20% of Maruti Suzuki sales.
Speaking more on the occasion, VG Ramakrishnan, MD, Frost and Sullivan, South Asia, said, “They had done everything correct. Right from investing in huge capacity to having sizeable exports which offered scale advantage and they brought in a portfolio of products. In other words, Nissan Motor India replicated Hyundai Motor India's strategy exceptionally well, but the sales and marketing arrangement may have played spoilsport. They misread the complex Indian market; they thought they will be able to replicate the successful sales and marketing arrangement of the Middle East into India; sadly, it went against them. Plus, the design of some of their products like Micra (Feminine), Sunny (Staid) had not evolved to suit Indian tastes. They didn't strike a chord with the customers. They are today known, but are not part of the consideration set.”
A while ago, Andy Palmer, Chief Planning officer and executive Vice-President, Nissan Motor Corporation, said to financial express, "We are working on new product/s to replace our popular Micra in India by 2016. The new product will not only serve the domestic market but also the neighbouring countries as has been done by the existing Micra. However, for European and other major markets, Nissan will bring out a next generation Micra out of its France manufacturing plant and will not produce the same due to its cost factor. Both the companies (alliance partners) will use the common platform to bring out new products to their choice in India. In fact, Renault is also working on our CMFA platform to bring out a new product next year in India. The products will be different and the marketing strategies will be different between both the companies." If this is indeed true, Nissan Micra’s replacement may deliver the much required boost in terms of sales for Nissan in India.
Source: TOI
