Earlier this year, Nissan launched the Datsun brand in India targeted at the emerging middle-class. Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's global top boss has already said that he expects Datsun to play a significant role in Nissan's India growth story. And making that happen will be Yomura's key responsibility.

So, does the fact that the Datsun GO hasn't really become a chart buster worry Yomura? "Datsun is an all-new brand and the Datsun GO is a very capable product. Not to mention, we are competing with some of India's strongly established brands in its segment. Though the brand building process appears to be slow to the outside world we, as an organisation are taking progressive steps to offer the car to customers across various tiers in the Indian market."

The first offering from the Datsun brand - Datsun GO - has been appreciated as a product. But - as Yomura points out - when it came to purchase intent, it was naturally pitted against the existing brands in the segment which no doubt are much established and command better mindshare among car buyers. "For customers to appreciate the value that the Datsun brand brings to the table we are establishing more presence in terms of customer touch points and increased engagement. Distribution reach is one of most critical aspect of Datsun strategy. We need to be close our customers."

Together with the Datsun brand, Yomura's aim and ambition is to establish Nissan as a major force within the Indian auto industry. "Any business plan is subject to change. Timing is of less importance to us than achieving the overall objective and we are on track to do so. Ultimately we are committed to building Nissan into one of the largest overseas manufacturers in the country with a significant share of the market. We are working towards becoming one of the top six players in the Indian automobile industry. We are already the second highest in exports and we are working towards having a formidable presence in the domestic market with both Nissan and Datsun brands," he explains.

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