Reference Auto

So, the Nano will no more remain the cheapest car in India as Renault Nissan plans to revive the Datsun brand to give the Tatas (makers of the Nano) a run for their money, but will the new cheapest car bear the stigma which the Nano has been bearing in the country for all this while?

The Tata Nano has seen fluctuating fortunes where during a month sales went up to over 5,000 cars, whereas on the other hand, the figure once plunged to nearly 500 (after the series of fire incidents).

There have been murmurs that Japan’s Renault Nissan, in a tie-up with Bajaj Auto, is planning to launch ultra low-cost cars in the price range of Rs 1.25 lakh to 1.5 lakh (comparatively, the Nano’s price ranges from Rs 1.5 lakh to 2.2 lakh now).

In fact, this is the first time that Renault Nissan has unveiled it would make such low-cost cars. The new cheapest car will be from the recently-revived brand Datsun, the company unveiled.

Remember the once-popular Datsun brand?

Datsun was well-known for sports cars like the Fairlady roadsters and the Fairlady (240Z) coupes and was an iconic brand in the 1960s and 70s. Datsun was, however, discontinued in 1981. But Renault Nissan has decided to revive Datsun and make it a robust, affordable and a modern car brand.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of Renault Nissan, had earlier said, “In markets such as India, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia, about 40-50 per cent of sales are in segments where Nissan doesn’t have presence. In those categories, Datsun will have a major role to play.”

On the other hand, the Tata Nano is the cheapest car in the highly price-sensitive Indian market. But the Nano is yet to be accepted as a full-fledged car in India. Whenever people have opted to buy a Nano they’ve been given peculiar suggestions like “why don’t you buy a motorcycle instead?” or “please don’t buy a Nano.”

The Tatas hoped to see sales surge, owing to it being the cheapest car. But even small car buyers saw their status plunge and didn’t really flock to buy the Nano. That’s why the Maruti Alto (priced above Rs 3 lakh) is still India’s most popular car rather than the Nano.

Renault Nissan and Bajaj Auto had inked a deal three years ago where Bajaj was to design, develop and make an ultra low-cost car to hit the roads in 2011. But the plan had been shelved.

At the Delhi Auto Expo in January this year, Bajaj had unveiled the RE60 low-cost vehicle which is expected to be launched soon (for a price of Rs 1.25 lakh). Renault Nissan said it hasn’t taken a decision on whether to go with the RE60 or not.

But Renault Nissan will have to find a way to shed the cheapest car brand tag with the Datsun otherwise it could fall in the Tata Nano trap (and not see good response), or may be, the Datsun could be priced at Rs 3 lakh so that it can vie with cars like the Alto, which could make Datsun a more popular brand.