Nissan Motor Company, the Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer, is gearing up towards the launch of its Multi Utility Vehicle (MUV) Evalia in the Indian car market on September 26, 2012. Dubbed as an 'Urban Class Utility Vehicle' by the company, the soon to be launched Nissan Evalia boasts of a seven person seating capacity and is expected to be available in the price bracket between Rs. 8 -10 lacs in the auto market.
Upon its launch, the 2012 Nissan Evalia will take head-on the likes of other similar Utility Vehicle (UV) products in the Indian auto market, such as Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Toyota Innova and Mahindra Xylo. Hence, the top industry players must be closely following the proceedings regarding Evalia's launch. It has been revealed that Nissan will launch Evalia in four diesel fuelled variants including the base model XE, mid-level models XE+, XL and top-end model XV.
The upcoming Evalia has been tagged as a promising addition to the Indian UV market and is expected to intensify the prevalent competition, which currently features two prominent models - Ertiga and Innova. Nissan Evalia's most distinguishing feature is its sliding doors employment that brings to the mind the picture of the boxy Maruti Suzuki Omni van. However, the latest offering from the Japanese car maker boasts of prime interior and comfort attributes along with a huge capacious cabin space. The car appears a bit boxy on its rear side but the front fascia looks good, besides the tall boy design and comfortable dimensions scores valuable points in favour of Evalia.
Evidently, the Nissan will launch the Evalia MUV in only diesel engine guise in the Indian car market. Industry experts are citing the lucrative demand among the domestic car buyers for the automotives run on subsidised diesel fuel in the Indian market, as the prime reason for such decision by the Japanese auto maker.
The upcoming 2012 Nissan Evalia holds the much talked about Nissan K9K 1.5 litre turbo diesel engine under its hood, which churns out a peak power output of 85 bhp and a maximum torque of 200 Nm. The power-mill is assimilated with a 5MT manual transmission system that delivers a smooth gear shifting during hasty traffic situations. Further, the engine is Bharat Stage IV compliant that entails the car to have optimum emission characteristics.
Coming to the interiors, the interior cabin of Nissan Evalia is spacious and is believed to come in handy while its comparisons against the likes of Ertiga and Innova see the day light, upon its launch. Nissan has installed a whole gamut of security attributes to the Evalia MPV like Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution system (EBD), Immobilizer and door ajar warning in all its models. However, the base model Evalia XE will not feature driver and passenger air-bags. Further, features like power steering, tilt steering wheel, seat back table and all reclining seats come as a standard in all variants of Evalia.
It's going to be interesting to see how the Indian audience receives Evalia, which is currently enamoured by the market leader Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. The Ertiga MUV chalked up the bulk of sales in the segment, since its launch and quickly displaced Toyota Innova from its top position in the Indian MUV market. The upcoming 2012 Nissan Evalia has all the trimmings of a genuine MUV but its future rests only on the company's shoulders, which has to come up with a more than extra ordinary pricing to attract the Indian buyers towards Nissan showrooms.
