It’s a nameplate that many South Africans will remember with fondness and now it’s returning.
Nissan South Africa has just announced that the first model will reach our shores by the end of 2014.
No concrete details about the model line-up have been divulged as yet, but we do know that it will be a budget brand that will slot below the Nissan nameplate.
Our guess is that Datsun will share technology with Renault’s Dacia division, which means we could see Datsuns based on the Sandero and Logan.
Only one model will be offered at first, but Nissan anticipates that a broader range of vehicles will be offered in future.
As soon as we know more, you will too.
Nissan’s corporate vice president Vincent Cobbe said: “The return of Datsun is integral to our expansion in fast-growing markets where there is a mushrooming upwardly-mobile segment.”
“Datsun’s key values - accessible, reliable and modern - are designed to accommodate the needs and aspirations of this target group, just as it did for similarly optimistic customers in Japan, America and a large part of the world during most of the 20th century.”
The Datsun brand was phased out back in 1981 when the company decided to use the Nissan nameplate for all of its models.