Nissan Motor, Japanese car giant’s sister brand Datsun has opened pre-booki­n­gs for the new Datsun GO hatchback and Datsun GO+ multipurpose vehicle (MPV) for Rs 11,000 ahead of the festive season.

Car makes in India, the world’s fifth and Asia’s thi­rd largest car market, lau­nch vehicles during the festive season, especially during Diwali when sales account for about 15 per cent of the annual sales.

The maker of entry level Datsun Redi Go hatchback model said deliveries of new Datsun GO hatchback and Datsun GO+ would begin on October 10. When lau­nched in the country, the refreshed GO hatchback will compete against the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 and the upcoming Hyundai Santro, wh­ich is also slated for launch this month.

At present, the Datsun GO hatchback retails at Rs 3.38-4.41 lakh while GO+ has Rs 3.95-5.25 lakh price tag. The updated Datsun GO and GO+ would be priced a bit higher for new features.

Datsun brand has been struggling to sell 3,000 units a month for the last 5 mon­ths, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). While sal­es in March reached a peak of 3,947 units, in July it pl­ummeted to just 2,249 cars in the fiercely competitive market dominated by market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra and Ta­ta Motors, which together command 80 per cent of the market. “The young consu­mers today are looking for a car that complements their lifestyle and embodies their expression. We are confide­nt the new Datsun GO and GO+ offers a complete pac­k­age with attractive design, power and performance to our customers in India,” said Ha­r­deep Singh Brar, director (sales and commercial) at Nissan Motor India.

The exterior of the 2018 GO and GO+ feature an updated front bumper with new vertical LED daytime running lights and a lower air intake. Headlamps and front grille have been twea­ked as well.

At the back, there is a reworked bumper and a rear washer and wiper. The update also features the addition of alloy wheels on top-specific models. Datsun will also offer a new orange exterior paint shade on the hat­chback and a brown one on GO+. Inside, GO and GO+ feature a redesigned dashboard with a new 6.75-inch touch screen infotainment system (with Apple CarPlay and Android auto compatibility) and a revised instrument cluster with a tacho­m­e­ter. Also, the top-specific mo­dels get power windows on all doors.

The two Datsun facelifts will see no change in engine specifications. They will co­ntinue to be powered by a 1.2 liter, 3 cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine offering 68 PS power and 104 Nm torque mated to a 5 spe­ed manual transmission.