Nissan’s new hatchback to be priced at Rs 5 lakh

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Mumbai: Japanese car maker Nissan Motor Company’s yet-to-be-named hatchback for India is expected to sport a price tag of Rs 5-6 lakh. The first model on the V-platform, the car will be launched in June 2010 and will compete primarily against Maruti Suzuki's Swift (the best selling hatch in its segment), said a Nissan official recently at the briefing of the V-platform .

Nissan will import the engines for the hatchback to start with and later assemble them at the alliance (Renault-Nissan) plant in Chennai. “We will set up engine assembly capabilities in India at Chennai,” said Vincent Cobee, programme director, Nissan Motors Company Ltd.

The hatchback will compete in the A2 segment (compact small car) in the country, which posted sales of 95,785 units domestically and exports of 36,395 units in September, as per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). The other hatchback to be launched next year is the Volkswagen Polo. Nissan's hatchback will be launched first in Thailand in March next year and then in India. It will have both manual and automatic transmission. “We are aware of the Indian market, which is more manual transmission and diesel driven. We will keep this in mind when we launch the hatchback in the market next year,” said Cobee.

The hatch will be powered by a petrol engine between 1 and 1.5 litre, and a 1.5 litre diesel engine. It will have a new 3-cylinder engine with a fuel tank of 41 litres. The car should give a mileage of 15-17 in city driving conditions and 20-24 on a highway.

While the company is yet to name the model, it is identified as the next generation Micra, which is one of the three models to be launched from the V-platform. In India, the company plans to launch two models, including the hatchback and a sedan, next year. The company may launch a third model, likely a compact multi utility vehicle.

“We are relying on Japan for injectors and engine control units. Further, there are few critical parts which Nissan does in-house. Now we need to see if we want to rely on third party in India or do it in-house,” said an official from the company. He added that exporting the engines from India is possible. The hatchback will have a few Chinese components as well, including electrical parts.