Reference Auto

Nissan Motor India Private Limited, realizing that it is not among the most popular brands in India, has been swift in launching a diesel variant of the Sunny (just in a matter of three months), which could help rev up sales but the steep price ranging from Rs 7.98 lakh for the XL variant to Rs 8.68 lakh for the high-end XV version may deter buyers from opting for the new Sunny diesel.

The Nissan Sunny diesel is propelled by the K9K motor that currently powers a litany of the company’s cars such as the Nissan Micra, the Renault Pulse, the Renault Fluence, the Mahindra Verito (formerly Logan) and the yet-to-be-launched Renault Duster.

The Sunny diesel is capable of producing 85 bhp at 3,750 rpm and a steady 20.3 kgm of peak torque from 2,000 rpm onwards.

The diesel Sunny comes with a five-speed manual and offers a credible mileage of 21.64 km per litre under ARAI test conditions. The diesel variant weighs 70 kg more than its petrol counterpart.

The colour options that will be available for the diesel model are Brick Red, Onyx Black, Sapphire Blue, Storm White, Blade Silver and Bronze Grey.

Nissan had hogged the limelight first after the launch of the Micra, which saw sales of around 1,500 in November, for instance, and made it among the major contenders in the Indian automobile space. Even the Sunny has been doing fairly well, selling around 1,100 cars a couple of months ago, which is good for a car in the C-segment sedan class.

The Sunny had in fact created quite a stir in the C-segment and the diesel model will surely spur the numbers substantially as it would whittle down the running cost of the car by quite an amount.

The V-platform, on which the Sunny is based on, could see a clone produced by Renault from its Chennai facility as Nissan and Renault are working towards an integration to give a fillip to both their market share. Although Nissan has made some headway in sales, Renault is still lagging despite a slew of launches.

May be a car or two in the highly-lucrative basic compact hatchback market could be a game-changer for Nissan as well as Renault.

In India, the Sunny diesel will slug it out against similar fuel variants like the Maruti Suzuki SX4 and the Swift Dzire, the Mahindra Verito, the Toyota Etios, the Tata Manza, the Ford Fiesta Classic and a host of other cars.

The Sunny diesel has a slew of active and passive safety arrangements and technology, ensuring safety of passengers like the anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution, brake assist, engine immobilizer and airbags, which are typical advanced safety features offered by Nissan.

Like Honda, Nissan has failed to realize the psyche of Indian customers, who are mainly scouting for either cheap cars (the small compact hatchback cars) or diesel variants, but with the new Sunny being priced so steeply, it could come as a letdown for Nissan as customers may look for other diesel cars in the myriad C-segment.