Nissan India has found a cracker of a product with the Magnite subcompact SUV and the offering has been off to a stellar start ever since its launch in December 2020. While the model bagged over 5000 bookings in just five days of launch, the last tally we heard from the company was 32,800 bookings in January this year. Now, carandbike can exclusively tell you that the Nissan Magnite's booking numbers have increased further to breach the 40,000 units mark since the SUV's launch.
Also Read: Nissan Magnite Receives 32,800 Bookings In Just Over A Month Since Launch
The Nissan Magnite bagged 5000 bookings in 5 days & over 32,000 in a little over a month of launch
In an exclusive chat with carandbike, Rakesh Srivastava - Managing Director, Nissan India confirmed the development. He said, "As far as the current numbers are concerned, we've already crossed 40,000 bookings and we crossed them in the early parts of February. And the good part exactly is that the customers have appreciated the product, they have appreciated the brand connect and they are willing to wait. Most of them [customers] are early adopters to the brand and to the product."
The Magnite currently commands a waiting period of about four to six months, depending on the city and the variant. In a bid to address the overwhelming demand, the automaker recently began the third shift at its Oragadam plant in Tamil Nadu to increase the production volume. Srivastava said that the third shift is aimed to reduce the waiting period to about two to three months, which customers will find acceptable instead of considering other offerings in the segment.
"The third shift was initiated in early February and the plant has employed more than 1,000 workforce towards doing this," he added.
Also Read: Nissan Magnite Waiting Period Goes Up To 6 Months
India is the only market where the Nissan Magnite is produced for the world
The Nissan Magnite is offered with the 1.0-litre naturally-aspirated (NA) petrol and the turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol engine options. The model range now starts from Rs. 5.49 lakh, up from the introductory price of Rs. 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom, India). However, prices remain the same for the remaining variants on the subcompact SUV.
Speaking on the decision to withhold the price hike for higher variants, Srivastava said, "We also decided to hold on to the [introductory] prices of all the variants other than the entry variants. As a gratitude to the customers, we would like to extend the offer so that more customers can enjoy the product and the brand."
Nissan India is also prepared from a production standpoint amidst the global semiconductor supply shortage. Speaking about the same, Rakesh Srivastava said, "The semiconductors, containers, and rising steel prices, all are universal challenges. They are not specific to a brand or an OEM, they are universal to the auto industry. Currently, we have been able to work it out with our suppliers in terms of consistency and continuity of the spare parts. But I believe and what I expect are these challenges getting bigger and bigger, in terms of meeting the timeline for delivery."
Also Read: Nissan Magnite Subcompact SUV Review
Nissan has its production schedule on track so far with no disruptions from the global semiconductor shortage
The Renault-Nissan Alliance plant also exports the Magnite to Indonesia and will soon begin exporting to markets like South Africa, Bhutan, and Nepal. The company says that its focus will be on the domestic market in terms of addressing demand, followed by export commitments. India is the only market globally that manufactures the Magnite.
