To horribly mix a metaphor Nissan, like Volkswagen, being a ‘Johnny come lately’ had to walk the extra mile to catch up with the ‘early birds’ who had already occupied the best branches of India’s automotive tree. In 2004 the world had not expected the Indian market to accelerate so quickly so Nissan had to later work extra hard. Most Indians do not know that Nissan is the world’s eighth largest and Japan’s third largest car maker with a production of nearly 3 million cars per year. In India it began with imports of the X-Trail SUV followed by the luxurious Teana saloon before launching into the heart of the highly competitive Indian hatchback market with its Micra.
It is a tough market with some 20 competing hatchback models to battle against. The Micra, at a length of 3.79 meters, is bigger than the small ones like the Alto and Santro but not quite as big as the Hyundai i20 or VW Polo. But it has tough competition.
Actually, with many trim levels from a basic car to models with ABS brakes, air bags, remote entry, etc., a buyer has over 30 choices today. Such hatchback models together sell about 30,000 cars per month and Micra has done well to hit a monthly sale of over 1000 cars in a few short months.
Micra’s modern engine is very fuel efficient. Styling is however important as is evident from the fact that many buyers got tired of the excellent Swift and opted for the Ritz with essentially the same platform and engines simply for its tall and funky styling. Entry pricing is however a big factor even if buyers finally pay more for numerous fancy fittings that are offered. As the Micra was the most recent entry its top model offers big 15 inch wheels, ABS brakes, airbags, fog lamps, automatic wing mirrors, remote entry and starting, engine immobilizer and many other goodies. It is a good all round car and a good buy with decent luggage space but will have to overcome very tough competition.