The Datsun brand has been scrapped for the second time in its 91-year history, with Nissan confirming production has come to an end in India…

Nissan has hammered the final nail into its budget Datsun brand’s coffin, with production having ceased in India.

“As part of Nissan’s global transformation strategy, the company is focusing on core models and segments that bring the most benefit to customers, dealer partners and the business,” Nissan India said in a brief statement, according to Autocar India.

The Japanese company’s Indian division furthermore confirmed production of the Datsun Redi-Go had “ceased at the Chennai plant”, with the publication adding Nissan had earlier stopped building the Go hatchback and Go+ MPV.

In 2020, Nissan pulled the plug on production of Datsun models at its Russian and Indonesian facilities. With its Indian operations now also wound down, Datsun products are no longer produced anywhere in the world.

The last time Nissan registered a Go+ in South Africa was back in November 2021.

Of course, Nissan South Africa had sourced its Datsun wares from the Indian plant. The company’s local website still lists the Go and Go+ as being available, though a glance at recent sales figures suggests stock brought into the country from India has now almost run dry.

Nissan SA last registered a three-row Go+ as long ago as November 2021, along with 105 units of the Go in the same month. That figure fell to 47 in December 2021, 27 in January 2022, 14 in February and just 7 in March. The four-strong Go budget hatchback had been priced from R184 600 to R213 800, while the three-variant Go+ line-up had run from R194 700 to R223 800.

A few years back, Datsun had plans to launch a new budget-beating crossover locally, but that vehicle didn’t evermaterialise. Instead, the Nissan-badged Magnite – which was originally destined to wear the Datsun insignia – was introduced to South Africa in April 2021.

The first Datsun was produced way back in 1931, before the badge disappeared in 1986. After a 27-year hiatus, Nissan announced the revival of the marque as a budget sub-brand for emerging markets in mid-2013. The Go, however, had a rocky start, being handed a zero-star crash-test safety rating by Global NCAP the following year.