Nissan’s current portfolio in India includes a whole bunch of different types of cars from the small hatchback (Micra) to the sedan (Sunny) and the compact SUV (Terrano). The GT-R supercar and the X-Trail hybrid SUV are next in line but will never be volume getters for the Japanese brand. Nissan, just like everyone else in the market today will soon be getting into the exciting crossover space not with one but two products. The first crossover will be the upcoming Kicks that made its recent debut in the international market. The second crossover will be a micro crossover from the Datsun brand that will be priced slightly higher than Datsun’s current offerings.
As we mentioned earlier, the Kicks SUV from Nissan will be a mainstream offering and will most probably be a sub 4-meter offering which will put it up directly against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, the Ford Ecosport and the Mahindra TUV300. The Kicks will also go up against the upcoming Hyundai compact SUV. Although no real details are out yet for the Kicks, expect the 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine to be the staple engine to power this crossover SUV. A petrol engine is likely too but could either be the larger 1.6-litre engine that is currently available in Terrano or a turbocharged sub 1.2-litre motor that will feature in the likes of the Renault Clio internationally.
Datsun GoCross
On the other hand, the Datsun compact crossover SUV will be the Datsun GoCross. With the concept unveiled at the 2016 Indian Auto Expo, the GoCross will be Datsun’s fourth car in India after the Go, Go+ and the recently launched redi-Go. The GoCross too will get the same 1.5-litre diesel engine that the likes of the Nissan Micra/Renault Pulse and will probably get the 1.0-litre engine that the Renault Kwid 1.0 gets.
With Nissan and Datsun aiming to reach about 5% market share in the Indian context by the year 2020, the crossover SUV segment and the compact crossover SUV segment will be crucial to drive growth for the Japanese automaker. The new Nissan Micra will also be crucial for the automaker but we can expect that only post 2017 in India.
