Nissan India registers 141 percent sales rise in May 2014

Indian arm of the Japanese car maker Nissan has registered a whopping growth of 141 percent in the month of May 2014. The company sold 5,021 vehicles in the mentioned period as against 2,080 vehicles in the corresponding month, last year. The biggest contributor behind this hefty growth is the recently launched Datsun Go with almost 2k units.

Mr. Kenichiro Yomura – President, Nissan Group of India said, “Our sales performance has been encouraging since the start of FY-14 and our aim is to continue to remain progressive on our performance. Our business imperatives are being fine-tuned by expanding our dealer and service reach, enhancing our after-sales operations and introducing new, exciting products. While Terrano and Datsun GO are our performance drivers, the new Sunny and Datsun GO+ are on the anvil.”

Recently, the company opened its Sales and Marketing Headquarters in Mumbai. Apart from this opening, the auto major also appointed Mr. Guillaume Sicard as their Deputy President, Nissan India Operations, effective July 1st. The facility was inaugurated by Takashi Hata, Senior Vice President Nissan Motor Co., Ltd and Chairman of Nissan’s Africa, Middle East and India region. Covering a massive 17,000 square foot area, the headquarters is located in the Equinox Business Park, Kurla (West) and is the manufacturer's second largest office in the country after the main corporate headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Nissan revived the brand- Datsun after three decades, and the first product that came out was the 'Go' hatchback with a starting price of INR 3.12 lakh. Available in three variants and four colors, Go stands against the likes of Maruti Alto and Hyundai Eon. Powered by the same 1.2-litre, three-pot petrol engine and mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, the hatchback claims an ARAI- rated fuel efficiency figure of 20.63 kmpl. Currently, Nissan is selling and servicing Datsun from its own 125 dealerships across the country, but hold plans to open separate network for the brand in future. Through Datsun, Nissan hopes to account for at least one third or as much as half of its total total sales.

The next product in the pipeline from Datsun is Go+, a sub-4 metre MPV. Based on the same platform as the GO hatchback, the MPV will compete against the segment leader Maruti Suzuki Ertiga.