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Pulsar is back in play as the company looks to exploit its next generation of products. The Pulsar name was dumped on orders from Japan when the compact Tiida arrived Down Under as its middle-of-the-road replacement.
However, the new head of Nissan Australia believes it could have a place when the successor to today's Tiida is ready for the road.
“Tiida has not been a home run,” Nissan Australia managing director Dan Thompson says.
So, what about a return to the Pulsar name to revitalise Nissan's small-car contender?
“I wish I could tell you that,” Thompson says. “It's the million-dollar question. There is obviously a lot of brand equity and history with the Pulsar name. I'm not going to rule it out. But it's still some way out.”
Thompson is about to launch a huge range of new products, from the Maxima and Murano to the GT-R next year. He is 35 and, fresh from head office in Japan, is keen to get things going.
“Nissan stands for being bold and balancing that with being thoughtful. We still have great cars. I don't think we've got it wrong,” he says.
His predecessor was a Tiida fan and refused to discuss any return of the Pulsar nameplate, even after a huge backlash from dealers. But Thompson says he will be more open.
“It will be a discussion. But there is a lot of equity to the Tiida name. And we have the Versa name in the US. There is long-term value in global branding,” he says.
Thompson is a recent arrival but already seems to understand some of the unique challenges in Australia, including the Pulsar's place and the unsuccessful switch to Tiida. So, any time frame for the Tiida v Pulsar discussion? “When we look out as far as that, it's probably 2011. Nothing is concrete at this point,” he says.
“I'd be much more concerned about fixing up what we have at the moment, which is the bread-and-butter of this brand.”
He wants to put some spark back into Nissan's car line-up, which he believes has been lost with the big success of its four-wheel-drives.
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