Reference Auto

Japanese car major Nissan has finally brought in its budget utility vehicle, the Terrano, to vie in the basic SUV category inundated by vehicles like the Mahindra Quanto as well as the Ford EcoSport and the game will be played on the price front even though the Terrano is likely to score on comfort and safety as well as options available.

The initially response though has been overwhelming with the Terrano getting nearly 6,000 bookings in about a week. The SUV comes for a starting price of Rs 9.5 lakh. The car would also vie with the likes of the Renault Duster, Mahindra Xylo and Bolero as well as the Tata Safari Storme.

The Terrano, which actually would compete in the higher compact SUV category as well, will be offered in seven variants with three engine types, that is, 110 PS diesel, 85 PS diesel and 104 PS.

The price of the Nissan SUV would be in the range of Rs 9.58 lakh to Rs 10.9 lakh.

But the 110 PS diesel XL version has been priced at Rs 11.31 lakh and the premium variant XV Premium comes for Rs 12.44 lakh.

Nissan Terrano would come with a 1.5 litre dCi diesel engine. 

The 100 PS diesel variant will be offered with the six-speed transmission. But the remaining models are being offered at five-speed gearbox.

”Terrano is a key roll out for us and would set the pace for future vehicle launches next year,” Nissan India president Kenichiro Yomura averred.

Nissan Terrano prices (both of the lowest to its high-end model) are pretty steep compared to its peers (in the lower end though) like the EcoSport and the Quanto along with sister concern Renault’s Duster, among other cars.

The Japanese company is making the compact SUV along with French auto major Renault at the Rs 4,400 crore manufacturing unit located at Oragadam.

Nissan, which has the hatchback Micra, sedan Sunny and compact SUV Terrano under its stable now, sold 36,975 cars in the previous financial year.

Based on the popular Duster by Renault, Nissan has gone for a refurbished design for the Terrano to make it as unique as possible.

While the facade of the Terrano comes with new bumper, new headlamps, honeycomb grille and a mega Nissan badge, the rear comes with a split light.

The interior looks similar to that of the Duster, but the Terrano offers a new music system, different design for AC vents. Other than the XE (base) version, features like ABS, EBD, along with Brake Assist and driver side airbag are standard on all variants of the Terrano. That’s a big plus!

The top variant comes with two airbags, rear parking sensor, leather seats, leather-wrapped gear knob along with a steering wheel.

So, with advantage on the comfort and safety fronts, the Nissan Terrano could be a mega hit although the price could have been cheaper to make it more attractive.