[JayPrashanth]

Link to News Section

The Nissan Evalia, a van pitched to the Indian car buyer as an MPV, hasn't managed to tug at the purse strings of enough family buyers, or for that matter even cab operators. A success in many parts of the world, the Indian car market, with the likes of the Innovas and Ertigas around, hasn't taken well to the Evalia, and the result has been dud sales for the Japanese passenger van. Putting figures into perspective, the Evalia has barely managed an average monthly sales figure of 200 units, for the last 6 months. Team-BHP's sources assert that the poor sales of the van has resulted in Nissan putting on its thinking hat, and a lot seems to be emerging out of the brain storming. For starters, production of the Nissan Evalia MPV has been stopped. So, does that mean the end of the road for the Evalia, a passenger van that's less than a year old in India?



No sir, not this soon. The production halt is temporary in nature and could be move from Nissan to slow down the inventory pile up as the Evalia is simply not moving off showroom floors. In the interim, the Evalia will go under the knife and get a revamp to suit the sensibilities of the Indian car market. The revamp will address issues gleaned out of car buyer feedback. The revamped version of the Evalia could dump the butterfly type windows for more conventional sliding type units. Also, the rear air conditioner might be placed in a more conventional position, perhaps on the roof of the van. Captain seats could be other addition that Nissan India might incorporate on the upgraded Evalia, to give the passenger van an MPV-like feel.



All said and done, it's quite a task to turn around the fortunes of a slow selling car model in India. We've seen numerous examples of massive price cuts failing to quell the damage done by the initial over pricing of car models. Think new Ford Fiesta, Honda Jazz and Skoda Fabia. However, the Evalia's main concern isn't over pricing but the quirky set of features, such as the absence of a proper glove box, an rear AC unit mounted in the boot and the works. It'll be interesting to see if Nissan modifying the Evalia to suit car buyer tastes will do anything to turn around the fortunes of the passenger van. In the meantime, Ashok Leyland is readying up the passenger van and cargo variants of the Stile, a rebadged version of the Evalia. The Stile's lower price and positioning could only make the going more uphill for the Evalia, especially with the cabbie market in picture.

[Nilesh5417]

About time a manufacturer addressed the true reasons for a car not taking people's fancy. I'm glad that Nissan realizes that the product itself has significant & fundamental short comings to be accepted as a family car and are thinking of redesigning the car to fix these flaws.

So much better in the long term than simply slashing prices and providing discounts!

[2000rpm]

Good to see Nissan trying to improve the Evalia. I think its a really good value for money offering considering that the facelifted Innova price will be touching 20 lakhs!!!!

Really hope that this product takes of as I am really against paying a premium for bare basic products like the Innova.

On a different note, do we have any Team-BHP members owning an Evalia?? Whats their take on the product?

[girishglg]

The Evalia though starts with a rather neat front stylings turns into a bread box till the very rear. The quirky looks do not stop with the body but also the tail lamps which make it not so desirable.

Our markets puts in their money if a vehicle is modern, stylish but conventional. Look at the VWs and Hyundais which draw the customers based on their designs apart from other attributes.

Nissan should do some good homework before launching a vehicle especially if it is a little different in style from the norm in a particular segment. Look at the Micra as another example of a great car pulled down by its retro and feminine looks.

[Yeldo]

For me, if they add some better bolstering to the seats, introduce "captain" seats in the 2nd row, introduce a lever type mechanism for seat tumble, add a rear wiper, and most importantly add second row windows that can be opened in a normal way, AND trim the ex- showroom price of the top end XV to sub- 10L, should make it somewhat worth considering.

[SkyWalker]

Renault/Nissan is a one trick pony with Duster. Everything else is a market disaster - Maybe Sunny does some decent numbers.

Its a dud, and nothing Nissan does can bring it back from the dead - Indian Car history has enough examples of companies trying to revive dud cars an failing miserably.

best thing Nissan can do: mercy kill the Evalia, and try to pitch it against Enjoy/Ertiga (and please make that back look tolerable) in a different build and name.

[nik_kapur]

I want to know the names of the Marketing Men at Nissan who thought that this breadbox will sell in our market to end consumers ? I mean anyone with half the passion of a BHPIan would have known that its a no go from day 1.
They should have simply targeted the Taxi market and kept it that way.

[rajeshsundaram]

Good news. This proves that Nissan is serious about Evalia. On the way to chennai, I spotted a camouflaged Evalia test-driven with WIDER TYRES ! I took my camera to capture a shot, but the Evalia'a driver stayed back to avoid the photo.

[PNTLovesNano]

Maruti understands that a tiffin box sells if priced under 4lakh. What else explains the Eeco sales when a much better diesel Venture is a disaster. We can't simply pay more than 5lakhs for a sliding door van.

[MaxTorque]

If the news is true, its good for both Nissan and Evalia. Till date I have seen only one Nissan Evalia in Pune roads. That was also a part of taxi fleet.

[9thsphinx]

I couldn't find any serious faults with the Evalia. A relative has bought one and except for the quirky design, it is actually quite a competent van which can be used as a people mover or a cargo vehicle. It has all the qualities that you would expect a van to have and as a matter of fact there are tons of similar vehicles already roaming on the streets abroad.

Nonetheless, it was selling in dismal numbers and it's only a watch game to see if this facelift brings it any more value.

[latentpotential]

Slightly out of context, but why dont car manufacturers actively participate in such discussions online and get more accurate feedback? Relying on replies from even 200 customers a month v/s potential 1000 customers online who can list out their reasons for not buying a product.

[PetrolRider]

A Team-BHPian generally considers following cars:

A) Performance oriented for spirited driving
B) Low maintenance and economic

A normal Indian car buyer considers following cars:

A) A car with a flat M or a tilted H
B) A big car with a even bigger boot which can be repaired at the friendly neighborhood garage
C) A MPV termed as SUV

Cars not following any of the criteria bound to fail in India.

[zenren]

Updated Evalia undergoing ARAI test spied. Rear wiper confirmed.

Source: http://motorbash.com/xclusive-revise...-arai-testing/

[phamilyman]

Its a damn neat car except for the pricing.

It had only two major flaws -
The weird rear AC which was not available in the base version. The mid range XL+ with airbags (?) was fairly expensive
The ride quality was not as good. It was nowhere as nice compared to the Sunny, which was almost a lakh cheaper.

We are a family of 3 (max 4 incl my mother). We considered Evalia only for long haul drives so that my wife/kid can sleep in the rear easily - but I wasn't going to pay 1L over the Sunny for that!