Datsun unveils mi-Do hatchback at Moscow
Ever since the revival of Datsun, the low-cost brand has had a few victories paving the road to success for its Japanese parent, Nissan, globally. The Nissan sub-brand had a clear game plan for each and every country they have entered. They choose India to re-launch the brand with the Datsun Go hatchback, while in Indonesia, they staged the launch of the Datsun Go+ MPV. The Japanese marque entered Russia with the on-Do sedan, while South Africa received the Indian-made Go hatchback. After the first set of launches, Datsun is expanding their portfolio. As part of this, the redi-Go concept is in the pipeline for India while the Go will debut in Indonesia soon. Datsun saved the launch of the mi-Do five-door hatchback for Russia which unveiled at the 2014 Moscow International Automobile Salon (MIAS) yesterday.
The mi-Do is essentially the hatchback iteration of the on-Do sedan, as such it shares the wheelbase and front-wheel drive chassis layout of the latter. The new hatchback is 1500mm tall, 1700mm wide akin to on-Do sedan, while the 4337mm length has been chopped to 3950mm. This means that the on-Do is longer than Go by 165mm. The new hatchback also features the family grille which Datsun calls the ‘D-Cut’ grille. Unlike the headlamps of the sedan, mi-Do features a set of elongated projector headlamps that stretch from grille to fender. Overall design has shifted slightly from an angular approach to more rounded one. This is evident at the rear with the roof curving down to the windshield. The extended tail-lamps are visually similar to the Tata Indica’s ‘Christmas tree tail-lamp’ (see also the Volvo V40) and is aesthetically pleasing.
Under the hood, the mi-Do will be powered by the same 1.6-litre that does duty in the on-Do sedan. The engine develops 86bhp and is mated to five-speed manual transmission. A four-speed automatic transmission will also be available. Though Datsun is characterized as the low-coast brand, every version will have driver and passenger airbags as well as ABS.
On the name of the car, Datsun says it’s the combination of Japanese, Russian and English themes. ‘Do’ is a Japanese word that means ‘moving’ also refers to a ‘way’ of doing things. While ‘mi’ is like the English word ‘me’. Put together, it underlines the individuality and personality of the car according to Datsun.
