Quite a surprise when Nissan announced its plans to hop into the ever booming sub compact SUV segment, however while the product has got us all excited, the Japanese automaker has taken the wraps off the Magnite that has been revealed as a concept for now.
“The Nissan Magnite is an evolutionary leap in Nissan’s global SUV DNA. With cutting-edge technology onboard, it will be a game-changer in its segment. A bold offering in the sub-four-meter category, we are confident that Nissan Magnite will redefine the B-SUV segment for the industry. The Nissan Magnite is made on the philosophy of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ and has been designed in Japan while keeping in mind the requirements and aspirations of Indian customers.” said Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India.
First things first, Nissan says the Magnite nameplate has taken inspiration from a portmanteau of the words “magnetic “and ignite”. Magnetic highlights the design and the product attributes that will attract customers and ignite emphasizes on the beginning of a new era that Nissan aims to bring to India.
Nissan’s new sub compact SUV for India comes with upright proportions and well defined proportions. There’s also thick body cladding and skid plates at the front and back along with large alloy wheels shod in thick rubber as well.
The face looks the part with the flat bonnet and smartly detailed LED headlights, while the large grille with thick chrome border and L shaped daytime running lights look inspired from Datsun and while some might argue the most recently launched Redigo facelift.
But then come over to the side and the large wheel arches immediately take your attention and while the wheels do fit the wheel wells pretty easily, it remains to be seen if it makes it to production car as well. Other things to grab your attention are the strong shoulder line that runs the length of the car and large roof rails and blacked out roof.
The rear has a clean look for the tailgate and the tailspins which have a 3D effect do stand out atleast in the concept. Lower down however there’s a diffuser like look with faux dual exhausts, thick cladding and a skid plate.
Nissan has kept the interior under wraps and so are the details but what’s expected is a feature rich cabin courtesy of the Japanese automakers claims in the teasers revealed earlier.
Powering the Nissan Magnite upon launch will be 1.0 litre three cylinder petrol with manual and CVT automatic options. However more details will be revealed closer to launch which incidentally is scheduled to happen by early 2021.
But when it does come here, expect Nissan which is on a low right now to eat into a sizable pie of the growing sub compact segment. The segment includes the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV 3OO and Ford Ecosport, while new comers like the Kia Sonnet, Toyota Urban Cruiser and Renault HBC will also be present in the Indian market.
