Indian auto market presents a lot of opportunities to flourish and prosper in the country. Each and every car company wants to tap this market potential in order to get in the pool of leading car companies of India. Nissan, too, is one such company that wants to strengthen its brand presence in the market. As a result of this aspiration, the auto maker has decided to focus heavily on its network expansion in India. The auto company is eyeing an indulgence in the expansion drive as it plans to increase its network strength to 350 dealerships in the next three years. This makes a three-fold increase and certainly suggests that Nissan has a robust strategy in place to get this done.
Interestingly, the auto company will target Tier-II and Tier-III cities in order to improve its presence in the Indian passenger car market. Ajay Raghuvanshi, Nissan Motor India's Vice President, Business Management, reportedly said, “Currently, we have 117 Nissan dealerships across the country. We are aiming to have around 350 dealerships in the next three years.” He also stated that the car company is looking ahead to focus on small towns besides big cities as rural areas are also contributing to sales, which can't be ignored. Giving more insight about rural sales, Raghuvanshi said, “These days, around 20 per cent of the car sales come from rural areas. We should be available in this sizeable market. Of the average 1.6 lakh cars sold in India every month, about 30,000 are in the rural areas, so this can't be ignored.”
At present, Nissan has a market share of little above 1.2 per cent and with this expansion drive, it now aims to behold a share of 10 per cent by 2016. The auto company plans to launch the first model under Datsun brand by March-April 2014. It is quite optimistic about Datsun GO which is likely to be introduced by the end of first quarter (March-April) of 2014. Speaking about Datsun brand, Raghuvanshi said that it needs an aggressive marketing strategy, which will differ from company's distribution strategy. In the same context, earlier, the auto company stated that Datsun GO and other models of Datsun brand will not be sold through its sales and service partner, Hover Automotive. Rather, the company will undertake to sell Datsun vehicle on its own in the Indian auto market.
The company is planning a roadshow for increasing the awareness about the Datsun brand across the country. Raghuvanshi said, “The idea behind the roadshow in 90 cities is to take the product to the consumers. By the time we launch the car in March, it will be a known brand.” He also added that Datsun GO is for masses who like an affordable and reliable vehicle to ride under pressing prevalent conditions. Undertaking roadshows in Tier-II, Tier-III cities and other smaller towns will help the auto maker to enhance brand awareness that will prove to be critical once the vehicle is launched in the Indian market.
It must be noted that, earlier this year, Nissan India declared the reintroduction of Datsun Brand globally, including India. It showcased the first vehicle Datsun GO and shared its plans to introduce three models by 2016, all priced below Rs. 4 lakh.
