Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013
Dubai:
Get sporty - for the all-new Tiida, its bestselling hatchback, Nissan has gone ahead and did just that. The accent is on the sleekness — helped by a noticeably lower stance than in the earlier generation — and curves as the Japanese carmaker hopes these will sit well with its dominant user base — the young and those seeking a value for money hatchback option.
Prices start at $15,000 plus for the entry level and ratchet up to $21,600 for the top-of-the-line. (The new model comes in at a slightly higher price compared with what it replaces, given the “complete revamp in terms of design and features”.
“It was a conscious move to enhance Tiida’s sporty credentials with the new version and make further gains in a category — the C-segment hatchback — that the model already dominates,” said Yolande Pineda, general manager for corporate communications at Nissan Middle East. “The target is to reach 60 per cent, or 9,000 plus units out of the 15,000 C-segment hatchbacks that will be sold in regional markets in the near term.”
The earlier model — available only in 1.8-litre — had some good numbers with a 54 per cent share in a niche that accounted for 8,000 units plus last year.
For the new-gen model, there are two engine versions — the 1.6- and 1.8-litre — and five variants. The sporty creds are prominent with each of the versions getting a ‘S’ badge.
It is only over the last three to four years that hatchbacks have come into their own in the Gulf markets. When the first-gen Tiida was launched regionally in 2005, there were only four hatchback models competing in the C-segment and together contributed volumes of 1,500 units a year. It was also a niche that some of the European brands had it all to themselves.
Now most manufacturers have a competing version in there, which in a growing market helps them with their volume aspirations as well as make it into fleet deals as well. Currently, there are 12 models competing in the C-segment for hatchbacks. (To cover another base, Nissan also has the smaller Micra hatchback here.)
Nissan, as well as the other Japanese brands, can also expect some help from a soft yen, a level which is expected to last awhile. Certainly, it does offer them greater flexibility in end-user pricing.
By Manoj Nair Associate Editor
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
