Nissan planning Maruti Dzire rivaling compact sedan for India

Nissan has officially announced its business plans for Africa, Middle East and India (AMI) for the next four years. The Japanese manufacturer plans to concentrate on the prioritization and rationalisation of the business to make it more profitable. The Indian market remains a priority for the manufacturer as the brand has not done as well in the Indian market. Nissan will launch a slew of cars and SUVs in the coming years to revitalise the markets.

Render of Nissan Magnite

Nissan’s upcoming B-segment SUV – the Magnite will be the first car and one of the most important cars to be launched in the Indian market. While markets like Africa will also get the massive SUVs like the Navara. Nissan India also plans to focus on on the B-segment sedans that will take on the cars like Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Hyundai Aura and Ford Aspire in the Indian market. The all-new sub-4m sedan will be launched in partnership with Renault. It should be noted that the French manufacturer is also planning to launch a sub-4m sedan that is based on the Kwid hatchback in the future.

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Not many details about the upcoming sub-4m sedan are known at the moment but it is likely to be launched in 2022 if the plan gets a go-ahead. It should be noted that sub-4m sedan segment is becoming popular in India and the all-new Dzire became the best-selling car in the Indian market for several months. It indicates that the customer buying power has increased and even the first time buyers are looking for bigger cars. However, the situation might have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and decision will be taken by keeping that into account.

Render image of Renault LBA

Renault is working on a sub-4m compact sedan that will be based on the Renault Triber’s platform. The CMF-A platform will also underpin Nissan’s upcoming sub-4m sedan and even the Nissan Magnite, which is also a sub-4m compact SUV. The sub-4m sedan will take on a slew of cars including the Tata Tigor, Hyundai Aura, Volkswagen Ameo, Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Honda Amaze and Ford Aspire.

Nissan may put a tempting price tag on the sedan to attract the buyers. So the expected price is around Rs 5.2 lakhs. The Nissan Magnite and the upcoming sedan will share a lot between them including the engine options, features and even the cabin. This will allow Nissan to cut down on development cost and price the vehicle aggressively.

The Nissan Magnite and the sub-4m sedan are expected to be powered by a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder naturally-aspirated engine that generates a maximum of 76 PS and peak torque of 98 Nm. It will get a manual as well as an automatic transmission. Nissan may also use more powerful engine options with both cars.

Also read: Tata Tiago JTP & Tigor JTP discontinued