India-made Datsun RediGo to spawn new Dacia entry level hatchback

The Datsun RediGo will hit roads next year, as the low cost car brand’s least priced product. The RediGo is not a crossover but a tall-boy hatchback and this was clearly emphasized to CarToq by Nissan sources. Also, the RediGo will sit under the Go hatchback in terms of price and positioning. An 800 cc-3 cylinder, petrol engine is being developed for use in the new Datsun small car at Renault-Nissan’s technical center situated in Chennai, India.

While it is a given that the Datsun RediGo hatchback will be based on the CMF-A (common module family) architecture that it will share with the Renault A-Entry (code-named the XBA), it is now emerging that a new Dacia entry-level hatchback based on the CMF-A platform, and called the “City”, and also the least priced model in the Romanian car brand’s line up, will roll out of Renault-Nissan’s Oragadam manufacturing facility, into Eastern European countries.

The Dacia City entry level hatchback will be priced below 5,000 Euros in Eastern Europe, and this suggests a pricing between 2-3 lakh rupees for the RediGo hatchback in India, which will put the car in Tata Nano territory. With Tata Motors realigning the Nano’s positioning in India, Renault and Nissan seem to be finally taking a stab at the Nano, despite the Renault-Nissan-Bajaj ultra low cost car project being shelved.

The Datsun RediGo budget car project signifies a major milestone for Renault and Nissan, in that the car’s various iterations across brands will cover many parts of the emerging car world, a reach that is significantly much higher than the Datsun Go. Also, the Datsun RediGo, the Dacia City and the Renault A-Entry (XBA) hatchbacks will together be ensure that the Renault-Nissan joint manufacturing facility at Oragadam runs at full clip.

All three cars will share parts and platforms but will be positioned at different price points. While the Datsun RediGo will be the least priced car that the Renault-Nissan alliance sells in India, under the trio of Datsun, Nissan and Renault brands, the Renault A-Entry (XBA) hatchback will be positioned under the Pulse but above the RediGo. The Dacia City is not meant for the Indian car market and will cater to markets where Brand Dacia is well entrenched.

The RediGo and A-Entry will make their Indian debuts in 2015. The Dacia City will also be unveiled in 2015 with sales commencing in certain markets from the same year, while other emerging markets will get the hatchback a year later, in 2016.

Via Auto-Types