It has been a long time since I saw a Datsun vehicle driven on the road. It was a Datsun 120Y, also known as the Sunny (if I’m not wrong), the last rear wheel drive version. That was more than 5 years ago, while taking a short vacation across the Causeway. And when I heard about Nissan going to revive the Datsun name, I wondered how the models will look like? Mainly because, etched in my memory, are visions of these classic looking cars that Datsun is known for. Now, let us get back to the story.

Nissan is going to revive the Datsun name and it could return for the first time in about 30 years. Nissan plans to extend its ownership of the Datsun brand and also include an all-new logo (pictured below) for it too. Most likely that Nissan will include its Power88 plan (introduced sometime this year and I will later explain what it is all about) into this as well.

A little history about the name.

The auto marque Datsun was created by DAT Motorcar Company in 1931 and it was initially spelled Datson. In 1933, Nissan Motor Company bought over DAT Motor and changed its name to Datsun. Datsun was known for its Fairlady, Sunny and Bluebird models. The name was rebranded during the early 1980s into Nissan in order to strengthen the Nissan name. From there the Datsun name began to slowly disappear.

If Nissan revives the Datsun name, most likely it will be a sub-brand of Nissan. Similar to Nissan’s sister company, Renault, which has Dacia as its sub-brand. There will be a possibility that the new Datsuns will be a rebadged Dacia. Nissan main aim here is to produce economical and affordable cars.

The new Datsun models will be most likely launched as part of the Power88 plan which was announced earlier this year by Nissan’s CEO, Carlos Ghosn. The Power88 plan, which was built on 4 pillars, emphasises on brand and sales power enhancement, growth, sustainable mobility and mobility for all. This plan takes effect from the moment it was announced until 2016, where on an average, will roll out an all new vehicle every six weeks for six years; cover 92 percent of the global market segment; launching 90 new technologies over those six years and a sale of 1.5 million electric vehicles between Renault and Nissan.

Nissan is looking into various brands and the option to acquire them for future use. If the Datsun name is revived, it will emerge as a budget brand and most likely be for large developing markets, for example, China.

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