Datsun has released the first proper images of their first car in over two decades, to be known as the GO. The name is a homage to the very first Datsun, the DAT-GO, which quite unbelievably debuted in 1914, almost a century ago.

While a price has been released in Indian Rupees, it’s probably best not to speculate on the South African price based solely on that figure. But for what it’s worth, the Indian price translates to R67,000, which right off the bat seems too low.

The Datsun GO will be mixing it with the Chevy Sparks and Honda Brios of the market place, in terms of size and engine capacity, however that’s where the current Micra is essentially positioned, starting at R112,000. In keeping with Nissan’s product strategy, with Datsun as a sub-brand and INFINITI as a luxury brand using shared components, perhaps this will be a sub-R100 000 car, which will be very interesting indeed for local motorist.

Datsun say this is an all new car, however, with a 1.2 litre petrol, our assumption would be that the engine and a chassis have most likely been borrowed from the Micra.

Built in India, the car has been developed there for that market, but with a similarly upwardly-mobile lower to middle income group, who are increasingly looking to get on the road, the GO is a good fit for SA as well.

Datsun have confirmed that this will be the first of many models launched in SA, from 2014.