Nissan resurrects Datsun brand after 30 years

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nissan Motor Company announced the return of the Datsun brand after 30 years, with plans to introduce a low-cost car in several emerging markets in 2014, CNN reported.

In a nod to the growing importance of developing markets, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn made the announcement in Indonesia, one of three markets the new car line will debut.

"The Datsun brand has a global mission, but when you go on a global mission you start with priorities and today we said our priority are three: They are Indonesia, they are India and they are Russia," Ghosn said.

"That doesn't mean that we are going to be limiting it to there. This is the first step of development, which are these three markets, but absolutely not excluding other high growth markets or other emerging markets from the range of Datsun," he added.

The Datsun brand first emerged in Japan in 1923 but was phased out in the 1980s as the company focused on mid-market buyers and its upscale Infiniti brand, launched in 1989. The new line will capitalize on the Datsun tradition of low-cost, sporty cars marketed in burgeoning economies where many young drivers are first-time buyers.

The company also plans to include a "green" line of Datsun cars.