Noteworthy Nissan changes (17/07/2013)
The industry’s B Segment — or the small family car market — has evolved greatly over the years, to the point where there are now three individual sub-segments.
Our visit to the Slovakian capital was designed to give us a closer look at each of Nissan’s contenders within these markets.
The well-established Micra is Nissan’s main contender in the specific B Segment, while the new Note is in the B+ Segment, while the Juke is in the B Premium Segment. By launching, respectively, the revised, new and facelifted models of the Micra, Note and Juke ranges, the company was at pains to stress how it was introducing technologies new to this market.
Under the working title ‘Innovation That Excites’ Nissan has endeavoured to raise the bar right across the B Segment by fitting their machines with kit which was previously only available in larger cars. While the revisions to the Micra and the Juke are largely cosmetic, the main focus of attention was on the Note, which the company hopes to be a huge seller — with as many as 1,000 units being sold in Ireland in a full year and up to 100,000 across Europe.
The Nissan Europe people — most of whom appear to be French, which I suppose is understandable given the nature of its relationship with Renault — maintain that Note customers, by and large, will be 50:50 male and female who are looking for cars with plenty of room and outstanding economy. A large proportion of them will be people scaling down from larger machines.
With a design brief which demands that the Note ‘sets the pace on technology’ Nissan says it has done a lot of work to satisfy the growing demands of B Segment customers by introducing previously unseen technologies to the heart of the sector. And the company is doing so, it says, with a pricing structure that will undercut all the major opposition.
Prices of the XE, SV and SVE models which will be sold in Ireland have not yet been set, but Nissan says it is expecting respective prices for the three grades to be roughly between 16,000 and 18,000.
Among the highlights of the car are new dynamic styling, completely new seats (built to a specific European design, thankfully), an increase in dimensions which has allowed rear legroom expand to the point where there is more of it than in a 7-Series, doors which open to 90 degrees for ease of access and the company’s new ‘Safety Shield’ which is a combination of technologies, including lane departure warning, blind spot warning and a rear camera, aimed at making the car ridiculously safe to drive.
They have also introduced their new three cylinder DIGS (that’s direct injection gasoline with supercharging) which is aimed at taking on Ford’s new one litre EcoBoost unit and from what we have seen it may give the Ford engine a run for its money on performance and economy.
The Note, Nissan Ireland says, will be taking on the Fiesta, Polo and Yaris and will take Nissan competitively into a segment where people are spending money right now. It will be going on sale later in the year, although the supercharged engine will not be available until early 2014.
With regard to the Micra, it has been changed to give it a more dynamic appeal, with a more aggressive stance, while the interior has been improved to provide more comfort and style. Similarly, the Juke has been revamped with the aim of keeping it at the top of its segment, outselling such models
as the Alfa Romeo Mito and the Audi A1.
On top of these three new machines, Nissan is promising an ‘avalanche’ of more new products over the coming 18 months, including a new Qashqai and a replacement for the Almera (a five door hatch) which will not be called Almera.
And with specific regard to the new Qashqai, Nissan says the winning design will not be ‘tricked with’ too much.
It is going to be a busy time for the company in the next while, but from what we saw in Slovakia confidence within the Nissan camp is sky high and hopefully, for the Irish arm of the company and its 42 dealers here, that will mean a concerted period of sales coming along soon.
