The sub-four meter SUV segment is booming in India, Nissan India is among many auto giants who eye making a venture into this segment. It has been learnt from close sources that Nissan is developing a new sub-four meter SUV. The company is mulling to launch the unnamed SUV in India by 2016. Nissan’s sub-four meter SUV is likely to underpin the Common Module Family architecture platform that will be seen in most of the Nissan and Renault future cars. Currently Nissan offers Terrano SUV in India that is based on Renault’s Duster, however the upcoming sub-four meter SUV is expected to be positioned below Terrano in terms of pricing. Hence we expect the new SUV to come with a starting price of Rs 7 lakh that is much less than Terrano that is offered at a starting price of Rs 9.63 lakh.
In its segment, the SUV will cross swords with the likes of Ford EcoSport, upcoming vehicles including Maruti XA Alpha, Mahindra S102 and Mahindra U301. To achieve its set target of acquiring 10 per cent market share in domestic market, the company needs to bring more volume segment vehicles in the country. At present, Nissan’s market share in domestic market stands at 1.92 per cent (including Datsun), which is less than 2 per cent.
Nissan’s low cost brand, Datsun, too could not spill any magic after the initial response for GO hatchback, things started deteriorating. Next in the line from Datsun is a MPV, named Go+ MPV and A segment hatchback RediGO.
