[RavenAvi]

Nissan's Executive Vice-President, Trevor Mann, has highlighted that the next-gen iteration of the Nissan Micra will aim to win back customers with much-improved interior quality, while growing bigger in size as well.

The current Micra has suffered because of poor perceived quality. However, Mann believes its successor - due next year and based heavily on the Nissan Sway concept from this year’s Geneva Motor Show - will be more worthy of the Micra name.

Although he said production of the car could, in theory, return to Nissan’s UK plant in Sunderland, he defended its current base in India.

“I don’t think you can blame India for the perception of quality,” he said. “You’ve got to blame the people who defined the product. The Micra’s not like that because it’s made in India. We have listened to feedback and I think you will see a big difference [in the next one].

Mann also said the Micra was likely to grow for its next incarnation - and this could open up room for a new, smaller Nissan city car.

(Concept image used for representational purpose only)

Autocar UK

[Rajeevraj]

I am not sure if size and quality are the key reasons behind the Micra's lack of success. Compared to competition, it is decently sized, quality is good and has got a pretty good list of features.

I think the problem is deeper than that- Sales, after sales, service, dealer network all have a negative perception. Unless those are fixed, a bigger, better in quality car will not really help.

[hellmet]

Nissan and "quality" somehow don't go well together in the same line. Apart from this perception, the car is also in the "premium" hatchback segment without it feeling so.

From my extensive experience sitting in the rear seat of this car, I'd call it a "bench" and sitting in it for longer than 30min is sure to cause back aches and discomfort. The diesel clatter is very evident and engine NVH doesn't impress me much.

-----------

It is time manufacturers stop showing off their ridiculous concepts. The final result is always going to be more chrome slapped onto their existing cars.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Nissan and "quality" somehow don't go well together in the same line.

Woah! Have you ever sat in a Teana? It'll make you forget the Superbs and Camrys of this world

[landcruiser123]

Nissan Micra is a practical car with a simplistic design and it's great VFM. Where Nissan went wrong is marketing, dealer relations and Renault launching the Pulse.

I think they want to push the car to the premium hatch segment (almost 4m length) to rival Elite i20/Honda Jazz/VW Polo. Also, integrate a boot to make a good sedan (4.4 m).

Whatever Nissan does, I would like them to remove the "Micra" badge from the next car in India and rename it.

[psispace]

The Nissan Micra is an excellent car in that it offers the most amount of equipment and features compared to its immediate competition. I was forewarned of Nissan's iffy after sales experience. But I was so impressed by the features on offer in their XV AT, I booked one right away.

If it were not for a rather shoddy pre-sales experience, I would have been driving one right now.

Therein lies the problem. Unless Nissan improves its' dealership experience and brings about some responsibility among its' dealers towards service and spares, they are going to still have the going difficult.

[ram_hyundai]

I am extremely happy with my Micra. Its a no nonsense car. It was HAI and then the takeover which confused a lot many customers. Some thing lost is tough to regain- Customers trust. But it will return in a big way i believe. Even though in rest of India Nissan is doing bad in Kerala at least they are doing a decent job. Maybe because of large NRI population.

[ajaypjayaraj]

I bought Micra for my folks to use within the city. The CVT is not a performer but good for city and sedate driving. Dad wasn't too happy about its acceleration in the beginning and he went ahead and test drove other hatchbacks like Brio, Grand i10, etc. and came back happy that I chose Micra. He said nothing else seemed worth the money spent and was surprised that for 7+ lakhs, there is only so much available in the country. That came from a person who went looking out for a better alternative to Micra hoping to find something better, an AT and strictly for city use and not for any spirited driving and stunts in city traffic. I think there couldn't be a more unbiased opinion than that. Brio's build seems really cheap and the rear looks like pants pulled down though it looks kinda cute from the front end but a li'l too tiny & cuter than you expect from a real car (not a toy). Grand i10 seems to be struggling with the motor it had. Though Micra CVT is not quick, it has road manners and when it achieves speed it behaves, build quality isn't as bad either. Feels better, safe, strong and sturdy as compared to its competition. Maruti was not considered as we were replacing a swift at that time. Swift was good. Only if it had an AT then.

[gautamkhadse]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use a spell-checker.

[hallik9]

The only grouse I have with the Micra is its pricing. Somehow , Nissan missed a trick there. I found the diesel engine very peppy. Have been thinking about buying a Micra for my better half but kept postponing it(Pricing being the key reason). With this news, I might wait a little bit longer before I finally take the plunge

[model-t]

I have been travelling in a colleague's Micra for a while. The front seats are great, the average he gets on Diesel is great and it is a no-nonsense car. Nissan may have had a few hiccups in India, but their build quality is not tinny. I guess they need a revamp. Once they have a great product (remember Duster from Renault, Terrano from their stable) it will grow big. Nothing a big Japanese brand cannot do here.

[RavSam]

@ gautamkhadse

Brother! If the hummer (not available in India) makes you think of 'tough' then to think about Nissan you should see the 370z, GT-R, Skylines and Patrols etc (also not available in India).

Things that will instantly come to your mind will be:
Sporty, VFM (obviously except some of their models), Cult, Racing, Durable, Legendary, Handling, Performance, Tuning and WHAT NOT!

Sadly, their offerings and attempts for India are half-hearted and so their awareness is VERY limited.

Also, the logo looks great, of-course on their sports-cars! No complain about that.

If cars were to be judged by logos then the Suzuki's or Toyota's logo are not at all 'sexy' or aspirational but look at their sales!
It all boils down to good product= good brand value.

If Audi were to make crap cars, people would have really made fun of their logos by saying, "This car is so bad, it doesn't deserve one but FOUR ZEROS!"

[NPV]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Nissan and "quality" somehow don't go well together in the same line.

I'm not sure if this is a real issue/perception only in India but from my experience of the Nissan cars in the US, I never ever got the feeling. Back in 2000, I liked the Nissan Altima so much that I almost bought it impulsively, but it's another story that I ended up buying the Honda Accord but nothing to take away from the quality of the Nissan cars.
In my opinion, the Micra needs a better engine and probably more premium interiors like the other capable premium hatches it competes with. And of course a better service network (which is currently not confidence inspiring).

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by NPV

I'm not sure if this is a real issue/perception only in India but from my experience of the Nissan cars in the US, I never ever got the feeling. Back in 2000, I liked the Nissan Altima so much that I almost bought it impulsively, but it's another story that I ended up buying the Honda Accord but nothing to take away from the quality of the Nissan cars.
In my opinion, the Micra needs a better engine and probably more premium interiors like the other capable premium hatches it competes with. And of course a better service network (which is currently not confidence inspiring).

Well, good that you did not buy the Altima. I owned a Nissan Sentra and it was a nightmare of issues. I extensively rode in (and occasionally drove) a Micra here in India and wasn't impressed with it either.

[RavenAvi]

Christian Mardrus, Senior Vice President & Chairman of the Management Committee for Africa, Middle East, and India (AMEI), Nissan, has almost confirmed that the next generation Micra would be manufactured in India for demand from the AMEI region, in a conversation with IAB.

In his words:

“There are a number of models which have a similarity for the AMEI region. So if we are doing it right, we may expect that our plant in Chennai could be a good source factory for the AMEI region overall.
We have a good visibility of what can be achieved at the Chennai plant, and then of course improving our competitiveness for the domestic market, but also then to have some models that can be exported from India.”

Nissan had previously indicated that production for the European version of the Micra might be shifted to Renault's plant in France from Chennai.

The next-gen Micra is believed to be based on the Sway concept which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.

(Sway concept rendering used for representational purposes only)

Nissan could make an emerging market specific Micra retaining the V-Platform, whereas the European Micra would shift to the CMF architecture.

While European customers prioritize handling, NVH and don’t frequently use the rear seat, Asian customers demand higher fuel efficiency, softer ride and rear seat comfort. Therefore a larger Micra with mechanicals carried over from the current version could be offered in Asia and Africa, if Nissan cannot address the cost factor to make the more expensive CMF-B platform in Chennai.

IAB