In a surprising development today, a Nissan sub-4 metre has been announced for India. A teaser of the upcoming sub-compact SUV has also been revealed.
While Nissan hasn’t revealed the dimensions of its upcoming sub-compact SUV for India, with the Nissan Kicks already present in the 4 metre+ segment, it’s safe to assume that the second model will be a model no longer than 4,000 mm in length and thus be cheaper because of lower GST levied on it. In other words, this upcoming Nissan SUV will compete with the Maruti Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet (Kia QYI), Renault HBC, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and Mahindra XUV300.
Nissan designers have seen the Kicks and Renault’s Captur inability to become popular in India because of their CUV-like appearance and have been careful about the same while designing the sub-4 metre model. From the least that can be made out from the teaser with certainty is that the upcoming SUV will be all have an upright stance, straight lines and traditional SUV styling. It definitely won’t look like a jacked-up hatchback or be perceived as a model ‘not-SUV-enough’.
At the front, the Nissan sub-4 metre SUV appears to feature Nissan Kicks-style boomerang-shaped headlamps. Its profile comprises a conventional beltline that sharply rises near the C-pillar and ends up in almost a vertical line then, leading to an angular greenhouse. The roofline is neither totally flat like on an old-school SUV nor a too sloping one like on modern-day coupe-styled models. It’s right in the middle just the way Indian customers prefer. The backglass is just the right amount of raked, just the way one would typically expect from a model this type.
The upcoming Nissan sub-compact SUV will likely be based on the CMF-A+ platform and thus share a lot of components with the Renault HBC that will reportedly be showcased in concept form at Auto Expo 2020. Under the hood, it should pack the HR10 1.0L turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine linked to a standard 5-speed MT or a CVT. You can read more about this engine in our previous report here.
Nissan has said that it will launch the newly announced sub-compact SUV in India this calendar year, but it’s yet to give a more specific timeline.
