Nissan has launched a new Datsun model in India three decades after shelving the brand that helped win Western acceptance of Japanese autos.
The company hopes bringing back the brand that built its US business will fuel growth in emerging markets with a new generation of car buyers.
The re-imagined Datsun - a five-seat hatchback - will go on sale in India next year for under 400,000 rupees (about $A7,385.26).
It is designed to appeal to aspirational middle-class strivers, or as its English-language website describes the car: the "badge of the risers."
But the Datsun enters the Indian market at a tough time. Sales of passenger cars fell by 10 per cent in the April-June quarter due to an economic slowdown and high interest rates that make car loans less affordable.
