Nissan to increase network, advertisement spend in India

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To expand its market reach in India, Japanese car maker Nissan is planning to have smaller outlets in tier-II and III towns and also increase the advertisement spend to improve brand awareness for its Datsun models, a top official has said.

Nissan will also launch another model in two years' time.

The global car maker's Indian subsidiary Nissan Motor India tested small format outlets in some places -- which performed successfully -- and has decided to expand the model to other towns, Guillaume Sicard, president-Nissan India Operations told reporters here Friday.

According to him, the company would increase its dealership numbers to 160 by this year-end from the current around 125 outlets.

Sicard said that once the Datsun volumes pick up, it may have its own dealership network till when the models will be sold under the existing Nissan distribution network.

"We have also decided to increase our advertisement spend for Datsun brand in order to improve its brand awareness," Sicard said after launching Datsun Go+, a seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).

He said only one in 10 people is aware of the Datsun brand and the number has to go up.

Nissan launched its Datsun Go car last year and has sold around 12,000 units till date -- and the number is picking up.

According to Sicard, the new model Datsun Go+ is the first MPV in the sub-four metre range.

The one major advantage of the sub-four metre size is that the company has to pay excise duty of 12 percent as against 24 percent on cars over four-metre size.

Datsun Go+ is priced ex-showroom in the range Rs.3.79 lakh to Rs.4.60 lakh.

Sicard said the company is looking at the option of offering driver side airbags with its Datsun Go model.

The car maker also ships out around 100,000 units to its overseas market from its joint venture plant located near here.

Sicard said the plant, set up in joint venture with Renault, has a total capacity of 480,000 units and is operating at 60 percent capacity -- hence, the need for a new plant is not felt right now.