If you’re looking for a Nissan SUV and are bored with the aging X-Trail that’s being hawked here for the longest time, you can check out the Nissan Dualis which is being imported by grey importers.
As part of Naza’s Chinese New Year sale, a 2007 Nissan Dualis can be had for RM151,000, and a newer 2008 model is priced at RM166,000. And from what I hear these prices are negotiable at the showroom if you’re really interested. I don’t expect the Dualis to be available from Tan Chong directly anytime soon as across all ASEAN markets except for Singapore (where it is known as the Qashqai), the only SUV being offered is the X-Trail.
Nissan calls the Dualis a ‘hatchback’. It’s a crossover based on the Nissan C platform. The body does look like a hatchback but its ride height is higher, putting the Dualis right in the middle of the definition of a hatchback and an SUV. It is a proper ‘crossover’ in true form, instead of just slapping any vehicle with a coupe-like roofline with compromised rear headroom and calling it a ‘crossover’.
In the engine bay is the MR20DE mated to a CVT transmission that we are already quite familiar with since it has been introduced in the Malaysian market installed in the Sylphy.
As part of the Dualis launch promo in Japan, Nissan actually commissioned Shoji Kawamori (of Macross and Robotech fame) to design a robot (mecha) version of the Dualis. The robot Dualis stands 3.5 meters tall. Check out these Dualis mecha videos which Nissan produced as part of a promo campaign in Japan – after the jump!
