Nissan has plans to upgrade its cars with BS6-compliant engines, and introduce a fully-electric vehicle to save its sinking ship
Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd. has seen a downfall in terms of sales last month, as compared to the same period last year. The manufacturer registered a total sale of 1,581 units in the month of October 2019, as compared to the 3,163 units it managed to sell in October last year. This has resulted in a 50 per cent YoY decline in terms of overall sales.
The Japanese-origin carmaker recorded a sale of only 1,433 units in September 2019, which lead to a MoM growth of 10.3 per cent last month. The increase in sales last month as compared could be attributed to the festive season and the offers and discounts the brands were offering in a bid to boost sales during the harsh industry slump.
The drop in sales numbers is partly because of the ongoing industry slowdown, and partly because Nissan’s lineup needs a revamp. The Micra and Sunny have aged terribly, and will likely not see the light of day post the BS6 deadline next year.
Apart from Micra and Sunny, Nissan also offers the Kicks along with three cars under the Datsun moniker, namely GO, GO Plus and redi-GO. Nissan is in the works of developing BS6-compliant engines for the Kicks, Datsun GO and GO Plus, and expect them to be equipped with the same, in the coming months.
Nissan India is also eyeing a launch of the Leaf EV in the market soon. Being one of the most popular EVs in the world, the hatchback will be the first fully-electric vehicle to be sold by Nissan in India.
The Leaf will be offered with the smaller 40 kWh lithium-ion battery, with a US EPA claimed (different from Indian ARAI testing methods) range of around 243 km. It gets a 150 HP motor that churns out 320 Nm of peak torque. The Nissan Leaf is expected to be priced around the Rs 30 lakh mark in India.