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Datsun Returns to South Africa after 30-Year Absence

At a media event organized yesterday, Nissan officially announced the return of the Datsun brand to the South African market. It's hoped that the new GO affordable subcompact will be ideally suited to the car demands of a growing middle class in this newly emerging market.
Datsun Go 15 photos
Photo: Datsun
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“This is a place where we have a great opportunity — and a very complex one — which is to be of this emancipation of the emerging middle class,”
said Vincent Cobee, Global Head of Datsun.

The Datsun brand is already known in South Africa. Between 1976 and 1978, it was the number one car brand thanks to the small, affordable vehicles they made, so the GO should feel right at home. On sale at the end of 2014 at 30 dealerships, it's available from 100,000 rand ($9,400). 30% of South Africans are between the ages of 19 and 29, this being the target demographic for the car.

Datsun South Africa has announced the GO will be sold with a 1.2-liter engine. Since the car is made in India, specs should be identical: 68 hp (50kW) at 5000 RPM and 104 Nm (77 lb-ft) at 4000rpm. That's nothing to write home about, but to compensate the fuel economy claims are just under five liters per 100 kilometers (47 mpg).

To most Europeans the GO would sound like a typical cheap car, but Datsun believes this car's appeal extends further than this, "to providing a different, attractive, reliable, emotional and engaging experience.”

First launched in India last year, the Datsun GO is 1,635 mm wide, 1,485 mm tall and 3,785 mm long with a wheelbase of 2,450 mm, shared with the Micra. The cabin has been designed to make the best use of available space. There's no transmission tunnel and the gear shifter is on the dash, like with a van, which means the two front seats are connected.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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