Nissan rolls out Chinese brand’s new model

Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga, center, accompanied by unidentified officials, looks at a newly launched Dongfeng Nissan sports hatchback Venucia R50 in Beijing Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Venucia R50, is manufactured by Dongfeng Nissan, a joint venture between Nissan and Dongfeng Motor Corporation assembly at the new Zhengzhou plant specially target for the Chinese market. AP/Andy Wong

BEIJING – Nissan Corp. has unveiled the second model from its new low-priced Chinese brand Venucia following what an executive said was a temporary dip in sales during anti-Japanese protests last month.

Nissan said the compact R50 hatchback will sell for as little as 67,800 yuan ($10,760). It is part of a wave of new models by Japanese, U.S. and European automakers that are aimed at China’s growing market outside major cities.

Venucia was created by Nissan and a local partner, Dongfeng Motor Co. First model D50 sedan debuted in April.

Dongfeng’s president, Kimiyasu Nakamura, said Nissan suffered a temporary dip in sales when protests erupted Aug. 18-19 over a Beijing-Tokyo dispute about ownership of an uninhabited group of islands in the East China Sea. He said sales have returned to normal.