Nissan to launch three cars in India this year

After beating Maruti Suzuki to become India’s second biggest exporter of cars, Nissan is all set to launch three cars, in a bid to drive up its domestic sales. Nissan is going to revamp its product lineup by introducing the Sunny facelift, Datsun GO Plus and the Evalia facelift this year, to increase its sales volumes in the local market.

It has been revealed that the facelifted Sunny will be launched here by middle of the year, the Datsun GO Plus around second half, while the Evalia facelift before the end of the year.

The Sunny facelift was unveiled in India at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo. It gets a revised front fascia with a new chrome garnished front grille and boomerang shaped headlamps, while the interior gets a redesigned centre console with piano black finish and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The GO Plus MPV will be Datsun’s second product in the Indian market. It shares the platform with the GO hatchback though it gets an extra overhang behind the rear wheels to accommodate the third row of seat. The GO Plus stays under four metres in length, qualifying it for the government’s concessions, which will give it a pricing edge over its rivals, the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Chevrolet Enjoy and the Mahindra Quanto.

The new Evalia will also get a facelift, based on customer surveys Nissan had conducted. The MPV was recently upgraded with captain seats and sliding windows in the rear, though we expect a few more prominent updates to the interiors and rear AC vents for the new car, in addition to the exterior cosmetic updates.

Adding the GO Plus to its lineup will require increasing the capacity at the Renault-Nissan plant in Oragadam, Chennai. The plant currently has a capacity of 4,00,000 vehicles per annum which will be increased to 4,80,000 with the addition of another shift. Last month, Nissan reported a huge 230 per cent growth in sales as compared to March 2012, aided by the launch the Terrano SUV and the Datsun GO hatchback. With the addition of these three products, the Japanese manufacturer hopes to keep improving its local sales figures as well as exports.