Datsun aims 5% market share by 2020

Datsun has planned to extend its reach in the Indian market. Owned by Nissan, the company currently accounts for 1-1.5% of the total share. Now with the expansion of its product lineup, the carmaker expects its share to increase to 5% by 2020.

Talking to ETAuto, Mr. Vincent Cobee, global head of Datsun said, "As a company we have this very ambitious goal of reaching 5% market share between Nissan and Datsun, hopefully by 2020. It is very reasonable to expect that Datsun will contribute half of this volume. That is a pretty tall order. This will come from products, through presence, through awareness. So there is a lot of places to work on to get there." He further added, "We know we are good in the hardware product attractiveness, product acceptance, customer satisfaction has been good. The issues we need to improve on is awareness, we are trying to make our message more attractive, more targeted. We are helping grow the network of Datsun and Nissan in India. We are moving forward towards tier-II and tier-III markets, offering sales finance."

Mr. Cobee told that Datsun Go is a car which has the lowest maintenance in its segment. It is just that the message has not been conveyed properly. "It is 25-30% cheaper than the main players in the segment in terms of regular maintenance. We need to make that better understood and we need to ensure availability of spare arts, to cross that threshold of trust so that somebody living in a tier-III city believe that he can access the product anywhere", he informed.

He explained his vision for future and said, "I want to be one of the 2-3 brands that most people look at and say this meets my expectations. It is not my dad's car, it is not a car which has been on the streets for 20 years, it is a car which understands my ambitions and my constraints. So deal with me with respect, provide financial solutions, give me cost of ownership which I can afford and predict. Don't give me a cheap car and then when I want to maintain it, it will cost me an arm and a leg. This is what we want to do."

Also Read: Datsun to Make India Its Stronghold, Hints CEO