The Datsun redi-GO is actually a mix of Japanese, Indian and a little bit of French engineering. Then AFtEr, on thE finish, it is extremely Japanese

about 200 dealers when we launch this new product and we will be in all the top cities in India. We will also make sure that we have representatives. We are developing a new system where we have people representing our brand in smaller cities. Obviously we do not have the network of the more mature brands, but we have the coverage to be able to keep on improving our performance.

On the long time taken to get the GT-R to India, ‘I think what counts is the results. The outcome of all the discussions is that we are going to launch the new MY17 GT-R right after the USA. And actually India will be a part of the leading countries in terms of launching the new GT-R, just two months after the USA. There is a lot of excitement in the customer clinics. Men, and even women know about this car. They know about the fact that it is the best performance car you can get for your investment. There’s a huge awareness. People are dreaming about having this car in India. Some people have actually managed. We have about 10 GT-Rs already, but now we are going to accelerate. The clinics were extremely good, very passionate, very enthusiastic.

‘We will start with one specialised dealer for the GT-R. Potential customers understand that it is a special car and it needs a specific kind of care centre with high technology and high level of training. They are okay with their car being transported for maintenance or fixing. This elite kind of market understands the specificities and accept this kind of management. We start with one GT-R centre in India and then we will open a second and a third one according to the level of sales.

‘We have some upgrades for the Terrano. I am not so sure if we will have the 4WD. The sales and the demand for 4WDs are extremely limited. We will launch an AMT, we will also have a refresh in terms of features and interiors, and then we will have new products from the end of FY17, beginning of FY18. I cannot discuss the details yet but we have a lot in the pipeline for Nissan.

‘Customers understand what Nissan is globally. There are two iconic cars, the GT-R on one side and the other iconic car is the X-Trail. But I wanted to make sure that we bring hybrid technology. It does seem a bit awkward because we should have launched the diesel, but I want to position Nissan as a leading brand in terms of intelligence and mobility, and I think that we do master hybrids. We have had very good results with our hybrid X-Trail. So with the X-Trail Hybrid and the GT-R, we have the same objective, to position Nissan as a global brand.

‘We recently started sponsoring cricket and the response has been phenomenal. We can see ratings and results that have been increasing day after day and it helps us connect better with the audience because cricket is something that is part of your daily life and in India it is very important that we develop that connect.

‘On motorsport, we are growing on the GT-R roots. We shall see how the GT-R performs. We have some ideas that we will streamline them after the launch of the GT-R and see how we can evolve in the performance field.’