Nissan Ends Sales Venture in India

Nissan Motor Co. has formally ended its six-year-old sales partnership in India with Hover Automotive India Pvt. Ltd., The Wall Street Journal reports.

The move enables Nissan to sells vehicles including its relaunched Datsun brand directly through dealerships dedicated specifically to each marque. Nissan has been the last carmaker in India without a direct sales network since Fiat SpA broke with Tata Motors Ltd. last May.

Nissan markets seven car and SUV models in India. It sales are down about 11% in a market that has contracted 6%.

The company says it will announce details about its plans later. Nissan announced three months ago that it intended to sell Datsuns directly through their own dealer network. The brand goes on sale in India next month when the Datsun Go hatch goes on sale for about 400,000 rupees ($6,500).