Datsun redi-GO, A Suzuki Alto 800 Fighter, May Come To Pakistan!
Pakistan, with its small market of just 180,000 cars sold last fiscal year, is pushing to break the Japanese control over its market by inviting the European automakers. And in that regard, our boys and girls (there must be one right?) from the government have said that they have made eye contact, and in some cases, started a conversation with the likes of Fiat, Audi, and Volkswagen.
Though the big vacuum in the Pakistani automotive market between 1-10 lac rupees can’t be attended by any of the European automakers. Fiat has one or maybe two cars that may become available in that range, but frankly, the Europeans and the Japanese are pushing hard to win the Indian market and so, the development of small and economical cars is happening, but there’s still a long way to go for them.
There’s, however, the two sister companies that in our opinion, offer perhaps the best range of cars to fill this vacuum. The two are Datsun and Renault. The former was shut down in 1986 and revived in 2013 to make small, economical and affordable cars for the developing countries such as ours. Renault, the French automaker shared one of the most prolific CEOs of the global automotive industry, Carlos Ghosn, with Nissan (which owns Datsun). Carlos Ghosn is a folk hero in Japan; he brought Nissan from a loss-making failure to a profit-making success story. Renault then also owns another European affordable car maker Dacia, whose vehicles it rebadges as Nissan and sell in India. For example, the Dacia Duster is marketed as Renault Duster there. There’s the Renault Kwid as well, almost priced with Maruti Suzuki 800. So in essence, wherever Nissan goes, its sisters; Renault, Dacia, and Datsun naturally come along.
Datsun is prepping and taking bookings in India for another fantastic vehicle. The Datsun redi-GO. Aimed to compete with the Alto 800, this is another small car that will deliver a staggering 25.17 kmpl as claimed by Datsun itself and looks so damn better than the crap from you-kn0w-who.
Built to compete with the likes of Renault Kwid, Maruti Alto 800, Hyundai Eon, and Tata Nano, redi-GO comes with an 800cc 3-cylinder engine. The same engine which is used in the Renault Kwid as well. Power figures are yet to be revealed for redi-GO, but the engine produces 54 BHP and 72 NM. of torques in the Kwid and comes paired with a 5-speed manual transmission.
Comes at a price of 250,000 INR to 350,000 INR, that translates to 393,633 PKR to 551,087 PKR at today’s conversion rates. It does come with a lot many features than the small cars of Pakistan as well. Power steering, LED daytime running light, intergrated music system, front power windows, and an optional driver-side airbag and an option to choose from five colors.
I discussed this car and the Kwid with the guys over here at Nissan Pakistan who currently are testing a couple of Datsun cars here. The car just launched in India, and its deliveries will commence from 1st June 2016 so it was not surprising to hear them say that the car is not in the plans for the initial years but 2-3 years down from today, it is a suitable car for our market and we’ll keep reminding them.
all of it is based on assumptions, time waster as Indian auto market is entirely different than ours. Interest of auto makers is also A BIG difference between two countries based upon market size, auto policies etc. Already enjoying a long product line which is included every engine capacity and features, Pakistani people need some respect from information providers in order to make correct decisions in future, so no more assumptions please !!
day dreaming……
no AMT version ?
also , please stop posting delusional articles … THERE’s NOTHING INDICATING ITS ARRIVAL HERE !
@ Baber K. Khan: which models are Nissan testing can u tel us that?
why are peoples so quick to criticize every article here? I’m not the author. I just a casual cars enthusiast, not even hardcore auto head. There is a right polite way to disagree and criticize and then there are is a rude obnoxious comments .. its sad that most i found here are the later kind. Show what your ‘akhlaaq’ are in real life, do think about improving that.
This is free blog content , not some paid subscription content where
people protest like they are not getting their worth of money.
In last paragraph he says he has talked to Nissan Pakistan and he based his predictions on their words . not just imagination or wishful thinking.
What if I ask you .. How many good articles have “you” written here ? what qualification do “YOU” have ?
@author
great article. enjoyed reading the information . keep up the good work *thumbsup*
Did you not read it?
yes we read it the headline and what u wrote doesnt match in facts.
Loved this sentence :p
“looks so damn better than the crap from you-kn0w-who.”
2-3 years … man they’re just blowing u off so you would stop bothering them.
this is murky info … nothing solid regarding the arrival of a PROPER budget car in Pakistan !
look man , don’t get me wrong (i dunno about others). when i visit this blog, i want to read news which are whole , down to earth and complete. this is pure speculation and we’re not even sure if Datsun Go is even THINKING about coming here. we just want solid news , no speculation UNLESS there’s some sort of authenticity to it.
agreed
” so it was not surprising to hear them say that the car is not in the plans for the initial years but 2-3 years down from today, it is a suitable car for our market and we’ll keep reminding them.”. Next time, please be kind enough to save us our time and write this type of article when the cars are about to arrive.
1. Although it is free for us but the we generate traffic for pakwheels blog.
2. Time is a precious thing, can writers justify the 3-4 minutes wasted upon reading an article that doesn’t support its conclusion its properly due to ill-stated facts with the only reason the article was written because the writer imagined an impractical fantasy? As the largest automotive platform we expect better from pakwheels.
3. I’ve tried to show ‘akhlaaq’ courtesy of criticizing the points that need to be polished gently. Accepting criticizm makes a writer
You don’t get it. We have to pressure them, we have to show what people want. This is how you convince marketing on what you want. You show them that there’s interest. Its Pakistan, we have the dumbest automotive industry. A guy with a dukaan told Honda Pakistan that “Hey! look at this nice Honda Vezel that we have made successful in Pakistan”, and when everything was said and done, then Honda introduced the HR-V.
Trust me, I discuss and pressure the company executives on many cars, some I don’t even write home about.
brother if you read my comment. I did not said that one should not criticize or comment. I am just against obnoxious and plain rude comments. a positive criticism is ‘not’ rude , even if one makes valid points but the tone is rude or obnoxious , its not right.
I wish people would comment like you did. “this”^ is the right way to talk whether online or offline.
And I agree with almost all the points you made. Just as commenters , if the author is rude or egoistic and flags criticizm or comments that don’t adhere to ‘his’ thoughts .. he is doing wrong. and if he doesn’t realize it , he will never become a good writer.
P.S: 3-4 minutes wasted ! 🙂 .. brother most of us waste hours every day on far worse things 🙂
and that discuss thing is really bad , i am with you on that .
When it is already done, it is no news. It is “olds”.
When the cars are about to arrive, everything has been done. Despite all the spelling and grammatical mistakes, PW will lead, not lag. It is an auto-enthusiasts’ website which will make and break the opinions of the masses, not business recorder which will publish the share price once everything is already done.
Today in jang news paper I read the business news that in this year Nissan is preparing to launch this car.
If it is true than finally paki people kick that crap from there houses
rubbish article complete waiste of time, when there is confirm news of launch then publish ur article.
if this does launch with decent price, expect every mechanic and ustad ji to say “gadi bekar hei ji”
btw i have seen the datsun go as taxis here with clocked up mileage of 90 thousand km, no squeak or wallowy suspension
price ????
avilible in karachi pakistan