Life left in Datsun yet!

NISSAN could be planning to resurrect its Datsun brand name in an effort to boost its appeal – particularly to young people – in Australia and elsewhere.

Vowing not to follow rivals such as Toyota in creating a dedicated youth-oriented sub-brand, the Japanese manufacturer’s global communications chief Simon Sproule told GoAuto last month that there were no plans "to do anything with it (Datsun) – right now".

"Datsun remains a name that we own," he said. "But we would rather develop cars under the Nissan brand now that will be more attractive for our market."But in the future? A check of the United States Patent and Trademark Office this week revealed that the "Datsun" name was still "active" on Nissan’s books.

The trademark application was made in 2004 by Nissan Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha DBA Nissan Motor Co Ltd and is likely to remain valid for 10 years before requiring renewal.

Australian buyers old enough will remember that Nissan was originally called Datsun here more than 25 years ago.

The original 240Z was, and remains, an icon, while the famed Datsun 1600 was a rallying favourite for many years. The name DAT (Japanese for "running hare") is believed to have been taken from the initials of the three investors – Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi – who grouped together to start building vehicles in 1914.

When a smaller-sized DAT car appeared in 1931, it was initially called "son of DAT", which evolved into Datsun.

Another brand name on Nissan’s agenda for a relaunch in Australia is Infiniti, which was last sold here in 1989 and the early 1990s. The luxury brand’s re-emergence here is still to be confirmed.

"If you can make the business case then why not," said Mr Sproule. "If it makes sense and dealers can make money out of it and customers buy the cars – then, yes."Infiniti is now emerging as a strong luxury contender in the US and has been launched in Korea, the Middle East and Taiwan. It will be launch in China next year and in Europe in 2008.