Nissan is now selling a facelifted Nissan Grand Livina MPV in Indonesia, with small aesthetic upgrades such as a new front grille, a new alloy wheel design, and new white-faced instrument cluster dials.

The interior has also been given a black colour scheme, though things like interior colour are probably not something that might be specific to a facelift, just the country’s product planner ticking checkbox next to the item “black interior” instead of “cream interior”. The rest of the car and engines looks like they remain the same.

Look after the jump for a few shots of the updated MPV.
[Read more...]

It’s very much part of the city’s fabric, New York’s Ford Crown Victoria yellow cabs are, but the iconic vehicles are being phased out, and its next generation replacement will be … a Nissan NV200.

According to reports, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that Nissan has won the Taxi of Tomorrow competition, which sought to find the next-gen NYC cab – the result means that the Japanese automaker has exclusive rights to provide the replacement for the more than 13,000 yellow taxis that work the city.

Nissan submitted a version of its NV200 for the competition. The NV200, which isn’t currently sold in the US, edged out the Ford Transit Connect and another competing entry from Karsan, a Turkish automaker.

The first Nissan NV200 cabs are slated to enter service towards the end of 2013 and will be phased in over five years as the Crown Victorias, which make up 90% of the city’s cab fleet, are slowly replaced.

The choice is already generating some controversy – large taxi fleet owners are saying they don’t want to be stuck using only one model. Meanwhile, advocates for the disabled are opposing any vehicle that isn’t wheelchair accessible, which only the Karsan entry was at the point of competition.

But while the NV200′s looks isn’t its strongest point, the vehicle – to be built in Mexico – offers plenty of room and its 2.0 litre engine will offer it good fuel efficiency, something the Crown Vic isn’t exactly famous for.

Nissan has unveiled the Versa Sedan for North America at the ongoing New York auto show. As you can see, the Versa Sedan is the same car as the Sunny that debut in Guangzhou last year, but with a different name. In the US, Versa refers to the hatchback we know as the Latio Sport. The busy company also just unveiled the new Tiida hatch in Shanghai.

This 2012 model year Versa Sedan is being tagged as the “Big Small Car”, one that offers mid size tech without the mid size price – it starts at $10,990. The mid size tech Nissan is talking about includes things like Fine Vision instruments, Bluetooth, navigation system with 5-inch touch-screen display, Satellite Radio and an iPod/USB interface.

The Versa Sedan/Sunny sits on Nissan’s global V platform (V for Versatile), which also underpins the March. Compared to the Versa hatchback’s B platform, the V utilises nearly 20% fewer components and weighs around 150 pounds less. Size wise, this car’s footprint isn’t that different from its predecessor (Latio to us); width is the same while length is up by 11 mm to make 4,426 mm.

The 2,600 mm wheelbase is unchanged. Nissan claims better rear legroom than the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5-Series and Lexus LS460. Sounds incredulous, but having sat in it before, I believe them. Sometimes, it’s not about the bare figures but the packaging.

The exterior is identical with the car we saw in Guangzhou, down to the same rims, and the differences in the cabin is down to spec. The car we see here has steering wheel controls and electric wing mirror controls that the China spec we shot didn’t, but it looks like auto climate control won’t be available in the US – there are three rotary knobs in a triangle in place of the Sunny’s donut-like controls.

Under the hood is the 1.6-litre HR16DE 4-cylinder engine with twin CVTC, bigger brother of the HR15DE used in the Chinese Sunny. Compared to previous versions, this latest HR gets two injectors for every cylinder. The finer spray from the smaller nozzles brings more stable combustion. The engine makes 109 hp at 6,000 rpm and 145 Nm at 4,400 rpm. The Sunny’s HR15DE has 110 hp (112 PS) at 5,600 and 139 Nm at 4,000 rpm.

Transmission options are between a five-speed manual and the Xtronic CVT. The latter is the latest gen design that adds an auxiliary gearbox using planetary gearing, helping improve efficiency. It also has a transmission ratio of 7.3:1, broader than those of conventional CVTs and typical 7-speed autos. Friction is reduced by about 30%, weight by about 13% and overall size by about 10% versus the previous Versa Sedan’s CVT.

To be manufactured at Nissan’s Aguascalientes, Mexico plant that also builds Sentras for the US, the Versa Sedan goes on sale this summer in the States.

Full gallery after the jump. Click here to view the Sunny world debut in China last year.
[Read more...]

This is the new Nissan Tiida, unveiled at Auto Shanghai 2011 today. Produced at the Dongfeng Nissan Huadu Plant in Guangzhou, the Tiida hatchback, which we know here as the Latio Sport, will start selling next month in China. It will be launched in approximately 130 countries around the world by 2014, according to Nissan.

The new car will have pretty big shoes to fill. The outgoing Tiida hatch, first introduced in China in 2005, sold 85,000 units last year. But it’s very well armed to achieve better, thanks to new swoopy styling (hints of Mazda3 spotted), increased dimensions and space and new drivetrains, headlined by a 1.6L turbocharged engine.

If you’ve been in the Latio Sport, you’d have noticed the car’s impressive cabin space. The new one further builds on this. At 4,295 mm long and 1,760 mm wide, the new car is 45 mm longer and 65 mm wider. More significantly, the wheelbase has been increased by 100 mm to make 2,700 mm, leading Nissan to claim best-in-class rear knee room. The new size is now firmly in the C-segment, as opposed to the old car’s middle ground between B and C classes.

Nissan’s HR16DE is again in service, but with added Pure Drive low-emission technologies such as dual injectors. Transmission choices include a manual gearbox and Nissan’s Xtronic CVT. However, the highlight is the 1.6L turbo variant, which makes 190 hp and 240 Nm of torque. By the way, 240 Nm is identical to what the twincharged VW Golf TSI makes, but the Nissan has a 30 horse advantage.

In the image set we have, the red car with the black interior is the 1.6L turbo. Notice the “DIG Turbo” sign below the TIIDA mark? DIG stands for Direct Injection Gasoline. Other differences include 17-inch wheels and unique tail lamps. A Japanese rival to the 308 Turbo and Golf TSI? This is it!

Gallery after the jump.
[Read more...]

Nissan has said it will launch a voluntarily repair service campaign for its Leaf electric vehicle to address problems of some vehicles being unable to start, according to reports.

The company has received reports from Leaf owners where the car has failed to start, and will reprogram software in the Vehicle Control Module to address incorrect diagnosis programming.

Even though the glitch has only affected a small proportion of vehicles, Nissan says all 8,000 or so Leafs made in the US and Japan are covered by the repair service. The company says that this is not a safety-related issue (hence, it’s not officially tagged as a recall) and will not cause the vehicle to stop running while being driven, just that the car may not restart once it is off.

The Nissan March has been a success in Thailand. The first eco-car to hit the market, the March propelled itself into the top ten vehicle sales chart of 2010, despite not having a full year of sales (it was launched in March 2010). 18,367 units of the bug eyed hatchback found new homes in 2010, making it the fifth most popular passenger car in Thailand, trailing only the Vios, City, Altis, Civic and Mazda2.

Thanks to affordable pricing, the March’s popularity shows no signs of slowing, and we reckon that Honda’s smaller Brio won’t be doing too much harm to Nissan. Now, Nissan wants to repeat the trick. A report by Bangkok Post says that the automaker wants to produce a second eco-car in Thailand.

“We expect to launch a new model this year after the March’s debut last year,” an exec at Nissan Thailand told the paper, adding that once the new model’s production starts, Nissan’s Thai output of eco-cars will top 100,000 units this year. With that figure, Nissan would have met the eco-car project’s volume requirements. Production of the March will be sustained at 80,000 to 90,000 units, including Japan bound cars.

“The parent firm is about to start production of this new model in China, but those they are going to produce in Thailand will be for export to Japan in addition to the domestic market,” she added, noting that existing production of the March platform in Thailand eased the deal.

Shared platform with March and production in China? Smells like the new Sunny! We were at the Sunny’s world debut at Guangzhou last December, one of the few English language publications worldwide to cover it live. Click here to read the report and view the gallery.