Reference Auto

Nissan Motor India, which has managed to notch good numbers with its Micra, hasn’t been doing well as a car manufacturer in India, mainly owing to its pricing strategy and slack marketing but has been aggressive on price with its newly-launched mid-sized sedan, the Sunny, tagging it at an economical range of Rs 5.78 lakh-Rs 7.68 lakh.

Built on the Micra’s V platform, the Sunny comes with a 1.5 litre petrol engine which belts out 99 PS power and has a fair amount of fuel efficiency of almost 17 km to a litre.

Nissan began its mass appeal in India with the Micra and the Japanese company wants to replicate the same with the Sunny (even though it realised this strategy late) just ahead of the festive season.

With the new sedan, Nissan is upbeat that it will sell over 40,000 cars by the end of the current financial year.

The new model is the 10th generation of the Nissan Sunny, which has seen whopping sales of 16 million cars in a period of almost 45 years.

In India also, the car major wants to ride the popularity wave, which the Nissan Sunny acquired across the globe over the years.

The company plans to launch the petrol version of the car initially, and this, buyers may not find too attractive with the price of the fuel being frequently raised, and now, almost hitting the roof.

The Sunny, whose prices will be kept uniform across the country, will vie with highly-popular cars like the Maruti’s Swift Dzire, Volkswagen Vento and Toyota Etios.

The company isn’t wasting much time and bookings have already started and deliveries will begin from the start of October.

Nissan is apparently banking on the comfort level it is providing at the Rs 5-Rs 7 lakh range.

“With high levels of sophistication and comfort, we are sure the Nissan Sunny will set a new benchmark in India’s sedan segment. We have been able to aggressively position it owing to localisation of over 85 per cent,” Gilles Normand, corporate vice-president (Africa, Middle East & India), Nissan Motor Company, averred.

The company has set sights on professionals in their 20s and 30s as well as families.

The car apparently boasts of substantial legspace compared with its peers and this could be one of the USPs the company is banking on to rev up sales of the Sunny.

Moreover, there is a huge centre armrest with cup holders in the rear seat.

Nissan, which has grabbed eyeballs with only the Micra, also has cars such as the X-Trail SUV, the Teana sedan and the 370Z sports car in its stable. By next year, it wants to bring in nine models to the country.

But in order to accelerate sales in the medium term, the Japanese giant will have to bring in a diesel variant of the Sunny, and the sooner the company realises this, the better, if it wants to see the new Sedan notch numbers similar to the hatchback Micra.