Its been a little over four months since Nissan launched the Magnite in India and the carmaker has already racked up over 50,000 bookings for the sub-compact SUV. Nissan has seen an overwhelming demand for the Magnite in India, thanks to it's fantastic pricing and excellent value proposition. The company says that almost 60% of all bookings received are for the top-spec variants - XV and XV Premium - with up to 15% bookings having been made for the CVT variants. Nissan have so far delivered over 10,000 units of the Magnite. Naturally, there's a huge gap between demand and supply, which has led to unusually high waiting periods.
Nissan is currently operating in three shifts at it's Oragadam plant in Tamil Nadu, manufacturing just over 2700 units a month. The company aims to increase production capacity to around 3,500 units a month by July to bring down the waiting period. That said, these plans could be challenged by way of global shortage of semiconductor chips or shortage in terms of components as well as the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country. So far, the Magnite has singlehandedly been responsible for reviving the carmaker's dying fortunes in India. Waiting period on the Magnite extends up to a maximum of 8 months in certain cities, depending on the variant.
Also Read : High-speed Crash of Nissan Magnite & Tata Zest (Both 4-star NCAP) Shows Former's Build Quality
As per an official statement, Nissan recorded overall sales of 4,012 units in March 2021. In comparison, the carmaker sold only 825 units of vehicles in March 2020. That's nearly a four-fold increase in sales (386%), and the Magnite can easily be understood to have contributed to the chunk of these numbers. Nissan currently has just three models on sale in India - the Magnite, Kicks and the GT-R. The Kicks only brings in reasonable numbers for Nissan and is starting to show its age in the face of newer competition. Meanwhile, the GT-R sportscar sells only a handful, if at all.
The Nissan Magnite is available with two petrol engine options. There's a 72hp, 1.0L naturally aspirated petrol engine and a 100hp 1.0L turbo-petrol engine. Now these are not class leading numbers but 1.0L turbo-petrol engine does a fine job in hauling the Magnite around pretty swiftly indeed. The base 1.0L engine solely comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox while the turbo-petrol engine additionally also gets the option of a CVT automatic gearbox. Prices for the Nissan Magnite currently range between INR 5.49 lakh to INR 9.90 lakh (Ex-showroom).
The Magnite is one of the most feature loaded vehicles at this price point, some highlights being an 8-inch infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, connected car tech, cruise control, a 7-inch digital driver’s display, LED headlamps with DRLs, a 360-degree camera, keyless entry with push button start and much more. In a bid to keep prices low and yet offer features like ambient light, wireless charging and more, Nissan offers an optional Tech Pack for an additional INR 38,000. The Magnite sits in the over-crowded segment of sub-compact SUVs where it rivals the likes of the Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, and the Ford Ecosport.
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