Nissan to phase-out the Datsun brand?

MANILA: News of Nissan Motor Co Ltd to phase-out its Datsun brand surfaces as the company continues to firm up its financial capabilities through its ‘performance recovery plan.’

Still plagued by the controversies surrounding ousted Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, the company adopted a strategic plan to boost profit by streamlining its brand portfolio, product line, and even its production capacity. The performance recovery plan is said to focus on freeing up resources so they could focus more on the United States and China markets where Nissan is a major player in the industry.

This plan will go against the aggressive expansionist strategy laid out by Ghosn called ‘Power 88’ which aims to raise profit margins and global market share by 2016—which were never achieved. Part of the Power 88 strategy was the revival of the Datsun brand.

Datsun was an old brand that was removed from Nissan’s line up in the 1980s. In 2014, it was revived and marketed as a no-frills car to cater to small markets, particularly in Indonesia, India, Russia, and South Africa.

The problem is, the Datsun cars soon began competing with other Nissan variants. “We ended up pushing two mainstream brands in a market where you have a one or two percent market share. You cannot do that,” said the unnamed source from Nissan who doesn’t want to be named. He further adds that similar outcomes were noted in India, South Africa, and Russia.

Now that Nissan is under new leadership, with CEO Makoto Uchida at the helm, it will be interesting if the Datsun brand will be pushed back to the shelves for the second time. Uchida was the head of Nissan China and had a stint as an executive of Mitsubishi Motors, even spending time here in the Philippines. With his experience, it will be fascinating to see the direction that the company will be heading and how Nissan can get back to its momentum.

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