Nissan will reveal details about the Sunny’s Indian name and specifications in the next two weeks, Financial Chronicle’s online edition reports. A top official from Nissan has been quoted talking about the revealing.
If you thought there’s going to be superchargers and direct injection under the hood, you are not going to like the rest of this post.
IndianAutosBlog has learnt that a 1.6-liter petrol engine and a 1.5-liter diesel engine will provide motive force. The latter is borrowed from the Micra hatch and tuned to return better performance. The Sunny is the second car to ride of the V-Platform. A MPV is expected to follow, but a launch in India is unlikely. Instead, India will get the NV200 van next year.
The sedan will be manufactured at the Oragadam facility of the Renault-Nissan combine. Meanwhile an IndianAutosBlog.com reader who wished to stay undercover sent us two snaps of the diesel V-Platform sedan (we’re confused what to call it) testing outside Chennai. The car caught on test had black interiors and had basic equipment. The top-end variant will have beige interiors and features like alloy wheels, automatic climate control, auto folding mirrors, etc.
Sunny and Versa have been ruled out for India as the former was a 50cc scooter from Bajaj that exited production, while the latter was a rare flop from the house of Maruti Suzuki.
Will the Nissan sedan be called Almera? Will it be named March? What do you think Nissan India will call this car?
Yet again the Nissan Sunny has been spied during testing. The recent spotting is by Overdrive reader Arun Krishnan. Arun’ spy pic clearly shows the front-end of the India-spec model, which we haven’t seen closely before. We contacted Nissan India a few days ago asking them about the V-Platform sedan’ launch date and name, and this is what they replied.
Nissan India’ Chennai-based spokeswoman to IAB -
The launch as we have communicated earlier will happen this year. However, the date and other details are still work in progress.
Sources tell IAB that Nissan Sunny arrives during the end of September with prices starting at 6.8 lakh rupees (ex-showroom). The Sunny will be sold in 170 countries and that includes America where it is badged Versa. The Sunny premiered in China in December last year with a petrol engine coupled to an automatic transmission.The two engine options under consideration for India are the 1.6-liter petrol (HR16DE) and 1.5-liter diesel engine (K9K).
Sources also tell IAB the name specific to India should be Almera. Nissan will not use Sunny or Versa as both of them have been employed on discontinued vehicle of other brands in India.
Sunny, Almera or something else, Nissan’ V-Platform sedan is eagerly awaited in India as people want to see if it adds anything new to that crowding segment. The Sunny could arrive during the end of September this year with 1.6-liter petrol and diesel motors.
The interesting bit of information we’re going to speculate on is its price. Sources tell IAB a starting price of 6.8 lakh rupees (ex-showroom Delhi) is on the cards for the Honda City competitor. Preventing them from pricing it at a lower level is the Micra hatch. The idea is to limit the sedan from cannibalizing sales of the hatch as over 50% of Micra sales come from higher variants.
The starting price will act as the bait. It will draw customers into showrooms who will find the top-end model with auto-folding mirrors, start-stop button, rear AC vents, beige interiors and climate control the more suitable buy. If not, the penultimate variant lacking some of these will be the best choice. Nissan might delay the introduction of the AT variant the fuel economy image is very important in the price-sensitive segment.
You may argue that this is the fourth time we’re bringing the boring “On Test” Nissan Sunny to the front page. You may also say that you are tired of reading about it as it is brought to light every other day on IAB.
But have you seen video footage of the Sunny being testing in daylight?
Gotcha!
Chennai-based Rathnavel Kasiviswanathan caught the Sunny testing in Chennai.
Rathnavel -
With the alloy wheels, the car looks good. The dashboard is simple. It definitely is a good competitor to the likes of the Maruti Swift Dzire, Ford Fiesta Classic and Tata Indigo Manza. I noticed orange background lighting to the center console. The quality of car, like the dash is of high standard. The front-end has chrome lining and looks exactly like the Nissan Versa from North America. The tail light though camouflaged, looked awesome!
Well-informed Rathnavel’s account gives an enthusiast perspective. Note that he hasn’t mentioned Honda City or Hyundai Verna in his text.
On the official website of Nissan Sunny in China, new images have been posted that give a better idea of the C-Segment sedan.
Though the collection of photos is limited, we felt there is a reason in sharing them with you. The Sunny debuted yesterday at the Guangzhou Auto Show and it is expected to go on sale in India around Diwali next year.
In its official press release, Nissan stated that the branding and pricing for India will be decided closer to the Indian launch. In doing so Nissan has hinted that Sunny might not be on the car for India. Powertrain lineup is expected to be nothing out of the ordinary. A pair of fuel efficient engines (1.5-liter diesel, 1.6-liter petrol) will be offered to Indian customers next year.
In some markets, Nissan could continue running the same engine. Tune the 1.2-liter engine to produce higher power and that will do nicely. Nissan should not rule out the possibility of doing a sub 4-meter Sunny sedan for India along with these powertrains.
In terms of the exterior design, the sedan does look elegant with chrome and the slightly disproportional styling approach to bring it close to the Teana is very evident at the car’s rear.
Indoors, Nissan has added a AC vent for the rear passenger. The wheelbase has improved and so will the life for the rear seat passenger who gets an arm rest thrown in for long journeys.
We are awaiting more official pictures of the Sunny sedan. Hopefully we will be able to get you more in the coming weeks.
Nissan has placed giant cards at the Guangzhou Auto Show teasing the Nissan Sunny. The Nissan Sunny sits on the Micra’s platform and will come to India during Diwali 2011. Starting on December 21, the Guangzhou Auto Show will host the unveiling of the Nissan Sunny and the Chevrolet Sail EV, both expected in India next year.
The Nissan Sunny could continue in some countries with the hatchback’s 1.2-liter engine. In India however, Nissan is said to be considering the 1.5-liter diesel engine and a new 4-cylinder 1.6-liter petrol engine. Nissan isn’t expected to price the sedan aggressively. We are not expecting the starting price to fall below 8 lakh rupees.
Nissan’s new sedan based on the V platform – The Sunny has been of keen interest to IAB. We have been following its progress since the time the first sketches were rolled out. We have brought you everything, right from prototype testing, patent scans to brochure leaks. Now it is time for the official reveal.
**Drumrolls** The New Nissan Sunny will debut at this month’s the Guangzhou Auto Show starting on December 21. This car, more popularly known as the Micra Sedan (although Nissan says it’s a new car altogether and advised all of us from using it) will be Nissan’s first foray into the affordable sedan market in India.
The Sunny will get a 1.5 liter diesel engine mated to a 5-speed manual or CVT gearbox. In India, it will go against –Honda City, VW Vento and Hyundai Verna. There are also talks of a 1.6-liter gasoline engine for India next year, but nothing is official.
From the image, one is able to make out the similarities to the hatch. Parts from the center console, the gear lever, steering wheel and door components are the same.
The Sunny will be launched in the second half of 2011 and will be completely made in India in Nissan’s Chennai plant. In order for the launch to be a successful one, the company plans to increase its dealerships to around 100 by 2013. The Chennai plant capacity will also be increased (if necessary) to take care of growing demand.
Thanks to a Chinese automobile website, we’re able to bring you completely unmasked pictures of the Nissan V-Platform Sedan disembarking in India around Diwali next year.
At this point, we’re told the likelihood of a 1.6-liter petrol engine and a 1.5-liter diesel engine is strong. Going by the Micra’s path, we don’t expect aggression on the pricing front for the V-Platform sedan whose name in India is still undecided. It could be in the range of the Honda City/VW Vento. For about 10 lakh rupees, one expects to drive home the diesel model with all the bells and whistles.
But headaches are abound for Nissan in 2011. Hyundai will up the ante with the Verna RB, VW should have put the Vento 1.4 in place, and Ford would have registered in this slug fest with the fascinating new Fiesta. With such promising new vehicles entering the fray, the V-Platform sedan needs a fancy price tag to hold a candle to this sort of a deadly competition.
