Nissan Motor Thailand (NMT) has announced that the new Nissan March will be the first model offered for sale under Thailand’s “eco-car” program, created to encourage the development of energy-efficient vehicles. Still fresh from its Geneva debut, production has started and the car will be launched at the Bangkok motor show on March 26.
Designed to appeal to both developed and emerging markets, the March is built on a new platform. It will come with a new 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder engine with 78 bhp/108 Nm. Nissan’s Thai dealers have begun accepting bookings, and vehicle delivery will start within a few weeks for the five-speed manual version. The CVT variant will reach buyers in June. The price range is from 375,000 baht to 537,000 baht.
Our northen neighbour will join China, India and Mexico as global manufacturing hubs for the March (known as the Micra in some markets), which ultimately will be offered in 160 countries. NMT will export the March to countries in the Asian and Oceania markets, according to Toshiyuki Shiga, COO of Nissan Motor Co.
As a recap, to obtain eco car status, a car has to achieve at least 20 km/l and emit less than 120g/km of CO2. Engine capacity must not exceed 1.3 litres if petrol-powered and 1.4 litres for diesels. The manufacturer is rewarded with a 50% cut in excise duty, no income tax for eight years and no import duty for factory machinery imports.
Live images of the March from the Geneva show is after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=903]
Fuel consumption of 20km/l is quite a tough target. :o
What's the official km/l figure for this Micra/March, Paul?
Wow,wonder how much will it cost here?
Once again, a reminder of Malaysia's missed opportunities. Our northern neighbor is kicking our ass as Southeast Asia's motoring hub…. The eco-car program is ingenious.
Both Proton and Perodua must continue to move forward and not stop at there…..Doing really nothing. We must continue to improve to make it better…..Look at our neighour, thailand….Alot of plants are there….ranging from Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda to Toyota, Ford, ISUZU, Nissan, etc…….
Where are we now? We are still lagging behind in technologies and also though we have our own rebading companies…..But there are still lots of QCs problems……
DariusDrake,
We have eco-proton/perodua/naza program..
ckk,
Haha. More like stay-friendly-to-our-local-corporations program.
again, thailand surpassed us.
Very soon we'll have to work in thailand. Malaysia boleh!!!!
Our Automotive Policy sucks, Thanks to Proton.
"Regional hybrid hub" anyone…
tomyamland surpassed bolehland, both gov and rakyat.
They can formulate useful policy to encourage more and more investment, as well as able to gather 1 million angry red dresses to have demonstration carnival.
– – –
Okay, back to the topic, seriously we do not really need any high tech hybrid alienware to save the day, a small comfortable vehicle with a really efficient small engine is all we need.
In case walking is not an option.
The price range is from 375,000 baht to 537,000 baht. or RM 37, 500 – RM 53, 700. I think its a good choice compare to our Viva plus 20 km/ l. with new techno and gadget. hehe
" The manufacturer is rewarded with a 50% cut in excise duty, no income tax for eight years and no import duty for factory machinery imports."
50% cut in excise duty. imagine 100% cut excise duty, maybe we can get Nissan March at extreme lower price. And it clearly that our national car is overpriced compare to any Japanese, Korean and China brand and even maybe europe and US brand.
Thailand seem left Malaysia or Boleh Land far behind in term of Foreign Direct Investment in automative sector. I admire 1 of China automobile company that will build the largest R&D centre in Asia which will accommodate 15 thousand professional R&D personnel, including 7,000 square meters of test and analysis center, 5,000 square meters of design center, 500 million square meters of the trial factories.
read the article below
" The laboratory will gradually form the ability of 6 experiments, including components, NVH acoustics, vehicle energy-saving & environmental protection, vehicle roads, powertrain, passive safety (crash), etc. After the second and third-phase projects of the lab are completed, it will form more experiment abilities, including electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) laboratory, material testing and measurement capabilities. The lab will open a "green passage" for the future of Chery in aspects of mastering core technology and enhancing product quality, thus ensuring Chery's overall leading position in product technology."
2010, they also plan come out with 17 new model including new energy vehicle like ISG strong hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and pure electric vehicle (EV). Hopefully Malaysia especially our pride and proud Proton will follow them.
haha this is first time i felt more lucky than the uk. they get india cars. we get thai cars.
Dear All,
They can cut my dick if they can sell it cheaper than Viva !
The price range is from 375,000 baht to 537,000 baht.
—————————————————————————
Convert to RM from bath is – Bath 375 000 to RM 38225.5835
– Bath 537 000 to 54739.0356
no doubt thai auto tech more advance than us. we still sell carb bike where in thai mostly fuel injected. (even thai agro tech far more advance than us.)
come on govt…bring it here with the range price below 50k
the center dashboard look like a toad face…
myvi will finish if this car sell with the same price tag…
is it coming to malaysia…will be a great deal if priced around hyundai i10 or myvi,as the current version is too expensive..pls bring this car to malaysia tan chong motors…
this car will on sale in malaysia o not?
last time i went to serendah plant d ppl in charge told us tat will b few surprises tis year….is it mean nissan march?
boring design
yeah.. boring design..
rather wait for emas lah…
much,much,much more efficient.. hehehe
see, they not surpass us in automotive tech lah..
this car so cheap…..what for buy myvi now
emas only will be sell in our country bolehland 2012. but I think maybe 2013 same as scenario before. What happen to our 1.6 Campro Turbo, new Proton Waja, new Proton Persona and new Proton Perdana? A simple Turbo engine 1.6 Turbo we must waiting more than 1 year. Are u believe Proton can bring us their complicated, new tech ( to Proton ) product less than 2 year? I think EMAS only will be seen in our road minimum next 3 year. Plus EMAS still a concept car compare to Nissan March is a reality car.And I think Proton EMAS will be overpriced.
Why do you guys condemning gov for protecting Proton? why not condemn US gov for protecting GM and other giants with trillions of dollars? and do you guys know the history how Korean & Japanese automotive industry developed?.. also by protection from their gov!!!
(Ford, GM and Chrysler, known in Japan as Kyoritsu Motors) produced 208,000 cars between 1925 and 1935, while Japanese domestic manufacturers produced only 12,000 units, a mere 5%. However, the "Big Three" were forced to stop production and withdraw from Japan in 1939 (only 14 years in Japan) with the passage of the Automobile Manufacturing Industries Act which aimed to eliminate dependence on foreign manufacturers for reasons of national security.
Anybody could explain how this couldn't be considered as protectionism?
Dear MoFaz,
i'm glad u have such a good knowledge on how emerging auto play can become a successful and global big player. for ur info, such automobile act is sort of a protectionism, they could giv reason such as national security, nationalism, infant industry etc. but we all know the reason behind. all those protectionism are not welcomed in globalisation. it's clearly a barrier. however, japan, korea, etc are good success example. that's why we came out with NAP, as Dr. M suggested, Go East concept.
just a piece of advice, do some reading on Infant Industry of Automotive and u would know abt the pros n cons, positive and negative effects. as u may come across the examples quoted in many economic journals or textbook, japan succeeded and m'sia failed. this was made known to everyone, at least most economists/academians. on the good site, our country has been studied across the globe. one of the grey area in Infant Industry policy is the 'timeline', no one can determine it. without specific timeline, it enables ppl who have interests lobbying the Govt.
Hi Martin,
yes, I too think that Malaysia automotive industry progress is too slow by modern standard. but there's a lot of room for improvement, and they are showing good progress. For that, I still believe in them.
Previous Saga was still in market for a whopping 20 years long and only been replaced quite recently. But Proton promised that we can look forward for Persona replacement after 5-7 years, and that's the 'standard' timeline set by other manufacturers too. Japanese and Korean went global after about 20 years, so Proton should go global with Emas and Persona replacement soon. After 25 years, it better late than never.
Yes, Malaysia and Thailand were always compared against each other's automotive policies. Based on GDP and export volume, Thailand seems to be in favour of most, if not all reviewers. However, I would like to point the fact that it's better to learn and develop own industry rather than becoming a mere 'assembling' facilities.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that foreign investors are definitely positive thing. But the real ‘profit’ belongs to the foreign companies. Furthermore, they only want to get profit, and won’t really care about the well being of the citizens. When Malaysia is no longer ‘cheap’ for their operation, or when economy is bad, they would slash jobs or cease operation here, abandon their workers and flee to better place.
The big manufacturers employ more robots than human. Industry and manufacturing contributed 44% of gross domestic product (GDP) for Thailand but employed only 14% of the workforce. It doesn’t help much to improve quality of life in the whole country, and more than 10% are still below poverty line.
Thai started their automotive industry in 1960s by producing parts, and later assembling motorcycles in 1970s. Thai have no automotive industry of their own, so most vehicles were imported which resulted Thai having trade deficit. In 1978 Thai disallowed CBU imports of car and motorcycle, and van and jeep were also disallowed after few years. So, car manufacturers were “encouraged” to setup plants to assemble CKD, and also “encouraged” to use 20-50% local parts. This system is also known as substitution of imports. Import of new cars were only allowed in 1991, but 2nd hand (used cars) were still banned.
In my opinion, the car manufacturers were ‘forced’ to setup factories in Thai in order to tap the huge market. Malaysia took different approach by producing own car for domestic market, which is still the largest market for passenger cars in SEA. I do feel that if Malaysia took similar steps as Thailand (disallowing imports of cars to allow local automotive industry to grow), many people here will shout “gov is unfair”. But the truth is, the system not only successful in Thai. Japan had similar policies in 1930s, and Koreans were ‘forced’ to buy local cars since 1960s, and now Korean has become the world’s 4th largest car manufacturer after 60 years.
but Mofaz our G protected Proton more than 20 years. I thk enough for our G to protect Proton with insane tax structure. Saya rasa adalah lebih baik our G sbg majority shareholder Proton tolong Proton melalui bantuan geran R&D, dana mengembangkan operasi Proton, dana pembinaan kilang, dana pembelian mesin dll berbanding dasar perlindungan menyusahkan lagi menyeksa rakyat iaitu struktur cukai yang terlampau tinggi. Saya rasa ini masa terbaik untuk Proton belajar berdikari untuk bersaing secara adil di negera sendiri. Ini perlu sebelum Proton bercita2 untuk menjadi pemain global oleh kerana amat mustahil negara2 lain untuk menyimpan minat melindungi Proton. Jadi jadikan negara sbg medan membina keyakinan kepada Proton untuk bersaing. Saya yakin hanya persaingan yang adil jalan terbaik untuk Proton menjadi lebih kompetitif, lebih maju dan lebih agresif.
Saya rasa kita jangan malu untuk mengambil China sebagai contoh. Walaupun industri automatif jenama tempatan mereka baru dibina pada lewat 1997 dan kini baru berusia kurang 13 tahun, tetapi apa yang saya lihat satu pencapaian yang mengagumkan. Walaupun China tidak kenakan cukai melampau ke atas kenderaan jenama luar, 3 jenama tempatan tetap berjaya berada dalam kelompok top 10 jenama/ pengeluar kereta di China. Anda boleh dapatkan sebuah Volkswagen Golf GTI dengan harga RMB 220, 000 ( RM 110, 000 ) dimana hampir 50% lebih murah berbanding di Malaysia iaitu RM 210, 000. Sbg bukti juga, jenama terkemuka spt Volkswagen, GM, Hyundai mendominasi pasaran di China dengan lebih 50% penguasaan pasaran. Bahkan sebelum tahun 2000, jenama luar menguasai lebih 80% pasaran kenderaan di China. Tapi yang mengagumkan saya sykt tempatan mereka berjaya bukti kemampuan utk bersaing. Gabungan BYD dan Chery 2009 sahaja mencecah pengeluaran hampir 1 juta unit kenderaan.
Kita ambil BYD dan Chery sebagai contoh. BYD berjaya membina reputasinya sebagai pembuat bateri terbaik di dunia. Sebelum menceburi dunia automatif, mereka adalah pembuat bateri utama dunia dan merupakan pembekal bateri utama kepada handset dan laptop jenama terkemuka spt Nokia, HTC, Apple, Acer, Compaq, Lenovo dll. Mereka hari ini dah berjaya dalam mengeluarkan beberapa model kenderaan yang dijanakuasa oleh elektrik sepenuhnya ( EV ). Bahkan company besar spt Daimler menjalin kerjasam dengan BYD untuk membantu Daimler membina kenderaan elektrik termasuk projek kenderaan elektrik di bawah jenama Mercedesz Benz. Mereka juga sudah mendapat lampu hijau untuk membina kilang di California, USA. Juga mulai tahun depan masuk ke pasaran Eropah. BYD juga berjaya menarik minat org no3 terkaya dunia 2009 ( diiktiraf pelabur terhebat dunia ) untuk memiliki 10% share BYD.
Chery pula bermula hanya dengan mengeluarkan 2000 kenderaan pada tahun 2000. Tetapi dlm tempoh 7 tahun, ia berjaya menjual 1 juta kenderaan. Lebih mengagumkan pada tahun lepas 2009, ia berjaya jual lebih 500, 000 ( 1/2 juta ) kenderaan setahun. Ditubuh pada 1997, Dalam usia 13 tahun, 60 negara telah menjual Chery walaupun dengan volume kecil. Saya kira ia permulaan yang baik untuknya berkembang. Lagipun jumlah exportnya hampir sama dengan pengeluaran Proton setahun di Malaysia. Tambahan ia dah ada variasi enjin dari sekecil 0.8 L enjin NA juga 0.8 L turbo hinggalah sebesar 4.0 L enjin V8. Dah ada barisan produk dari sekecil kompak car hinggalah sebesar Van/ SUV/ MPV. Electric car pun dia dah lancar tahun lepas bersama2 hybrid car. Bahkan tahun ni ia rancang bina CVT gearbox, bina 7 enjin baru termasuk supercharge, turbo, hybrid dan " pure electric ( EV ) termasuk 17 model baru. Salah satu keretanya ( dlm segmen Accord/ Camry ) yang dikenali Riich G5 tahun ini berjaya atasi kelajuan kereta mewah spt Jaguar S Type dalam ujian litar yang dilakukan di Jerman. SUV nya pun berjaya menghabiskan perlumbaan paling lasak iaitu Rely Dakkar walaupun baru masuk kali pertama bertanding. No brp lupa da. Ini belum dikira kejayaan mereka membina kerjasama dengan raksaksa spt Chrysler dimana Chrysler – Chery berkerjasama membangunkan kereta untuk dijual di bawah jenama Dodge milik Chrysler di pasaran spt USA, Eropah dan Amerika Latin. Juga berjaya masuk pasaran Itali dimana disana dijual di bawah jenama tempatan Itali iaitu Dr Motor. Bahkan spt saya komen di atas, mereka juga telah mula membina pusat R&D terbesar di Asia lengkap dengan segala makmal ujian.
Kesimpulannya, saya rasa dengan 2 contoh ni saya kira Proton akan lebih berjaya tanpa perlindungan kerajaan dalam bentuk tariff cukai ke atas kereta import. Lagipun tidak wajar memaksa rakyat membayar harga cukai melebihi harga sebenar kenderaan tersebut. Perlu diingat 2 contoh di atas masih baru dalam dunia automatif. Jika dalam tempoh 10 tahun mereka boleh mencapai angka jualan ke tahap 500, 000 setahun, tak mustahil 10 tahun akan datang mereka mampu mengeluarkan 5, 000, 000 kederaan setahun. Jika sykt China yang dilabel dengan isu suka ciplak, kualiti rendah boleh bina kerjasama dengan sykt raksaksa, mengeksport ratusan ribu kenderaan setahun, saya kira Proton sykt milik kerajaan Malaysia sepatutnya lebih boleh berjaya.
dan kalau anda bukak laman2 di bawah ni
http://autonews.gasgoo.com/ http://www.chinacartimes.com/ http://gochinaauto.com/
anda akan dapati majoriti pengeluar di China dah mula mengeluarkan kenderaan dengan rekabentuk sendiri bukan lagi copy and paste macam dulu2. Tak kisahlah design sendiri ke upah company Itali macam Berton, Pininfarina atau Italdesign Gugario design pun, asalkan ia bukan lagi copy macam dulu2 maybe. Tapi jangan salah sangka pulak kalau terlihat sesetengah kereta rekabentuk sebijik kerena di China kereta2 spt VW, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda dll dibina di China dengan menggunakan nama China. Mungkin sebab pengeluar2 ini dipaksa membina kereta di China lah bg mendapat keistimewaan dr segi cukai dan subsidi maka tahun 2009 mereka muncul sbg pengeluar kenderaan terbesar dunia mengatasi Jepun dan pasaran kenderaan terbesar dunia mengatasi USA.
beberapa faktor kelebihan china:
1) rakyat china merupakan 20% penduduk dunia, 5 kali ganda lebih ramai drpd Indonesia, atau 50 kali ganda drpd Malaysia. very huge domestic market!
2) they can produce in volume, tapi kualiti…? apa yg saya baca, kereta Chery abil masa 18 saat utk 0-100kmh. saya rasa, Saga pun lebih laju. some local (here in malaysia) buyers said they would choose Proton if they know Chery is that bad.
3) harga kereta di china perlulah murah. barang2 mahal di china takkan terjual. pendapatan per-kapita di Malaysia adalah 2 kali ganda daripada China.
but…tax is a must for every country.
vios thailand = RM51k – RM70k
vios china = RM63k – RM87.5k
vios malaysia = RM75k – RM85k (but now UMW increase price to RM88k)
tax in malaysia almost similar to china.. or UMW make excessive profit?
exora malaysia = RM75k
exora thailand = RM85k
i don think it will be sell here….even if is…it wont be cheap…p1 p2
you can protect proton by giving money and tax incentive to them, but pls dont tax the poor citizenby high car price, you tax us, you give us expensive car, and dangerous car.
Emas is just a DREAM!!!!
the design looks like BYD…
it is doom..
china ada populasi yg tinggi…market pun tinggi la…haiya…..
Conservative design, sometimes looks like old march, back looks like another Japanese make.
If this ever comes here, it'll pretty much be considered the 'premium' (price included) alternative to a P2 hatchback.
sure dont sell well dis car… same faith like savvy..
I think ECO cars is going to be new auto market trend and I like this concept. But have to wait for the prices list to be release by Nissan(M).
On another note, Proton Saga and Savvy export sales in Thai may hit another snag here (not based on ECO spec) which it now competing with Nissan ECO car and soon with other auto makers of ECO cars in Thai (Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, Mitsubishi..) to release their models soon..
ha sumua rakyat savadikap dapat berbual di web thai
putus asal lah free tex tidak akan berjadi dimalaysia kalau mau cuba pakai kereta besar cc besar no tex cuma 1 kereta import kuat kuasa power n selamat nya itu nissan navara 2×2 cuma 88k sahaja
i sudah pakai lama navara 4×4 le dengan lampu xenon cuma 106k
dengan ,happy sekali setiap kali iseronok bawa 4×4 berkuasa kuat ini di jalan raya mengapa nak bayar lebih brother malaysia. kap kun kap
so ugly