Nissan has decided, for the second time in its history, to ditch Datsun as a secondary “value brand” targeting developing nations including South Africa.

The resurrection of the Datsun brand in 2013, after 30 years lying dormant, was one of Carlos Ghosn’s plans to make the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance the biggest motor company in the world. The original target was to sell 300 000 Datsuns a year, but in the end only 470 000 of these vehicles were sold in almost 10 years.

The first time around the Datsun brand had lasted 52 years, from 1931 to 1983 and, Datsun was the name used for the first bakkies and cars sold in South Africa by Nissan in the 1960s.