Datsun began production of the GO today

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The Renault-Nissan manufacturing facility at Oragadam, Chennai witnessed a little excitement today, as Datsun finally sent the GO into production. 

The car, which is Datsun’s first product offering for this century, is apart from the 10 new car models the company is planning to introduce by 2016. Renault has joined hands with Nissan to make an investment of Rs 4,500 crore for the manufacturing plant in Chennai.

The Datsun Go hatchback will be powered by the three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol engine borrowed from the Nissan Micra churning out 76bhp of power and 104Nm of torque. This will be mated to a five-speed manual gearbox with the power being delivered to the front wheels. However, this car is expected to be more fuel-efficient than the Micra.

Ahead of its launch in India, Nissan Motor had undertaken a pan-India roadshow campaign to showcase the Datsun GO across 90 cities last December. The hatchback will also be showcased at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo along with the GO+ MPV. With its entry in the small-car segment, it will compete with the Tata Nano, Alto 800 and Alto K10 from Maruti Suzuki, the Hyundai Eon and the Chevrolet Spark.