The Nissan Sunny was launched in India in 2011. As the facelift is mechanically similar to the earlier model, this report will focus on the cosmetic changes only. For easy reference, here are links to our comprehensive reviews of the car:
Since its introduction, the Sunny hasn't set the sales charts on fire, despite ticking several boxes that are important to prospective buyers. An efficient, robust and adequately powerful diesel engine (the popular K9K 1.5 DCi), comfortable ride quality, acres of legroom for rear passengers and Japanese reliability are the car's strengths. The quirky design & ex-partner Hover's poor marketing & sales resulted in the Sunny selling in merely 3 digits month after month.
In an effort to keep its product fresh and within the consideration set of potential customers, Nissan has given the Sunny a nip-and-tuck, with changes that are almost entirely cosmetic. A generous splashing of chrome on the exterior & interior is accompanied by small tweaks for back-seat passengers. A new colour has been introduced – a dark shade of maroon – along with some changes to equipment levels & trim packages. Nissan also claims to have tweaked the ECU to improve driveability, while the ARAI-tested fuel efficiency goes up by over 1 kpl for the diesel. You can now choose between a “Luxury Pack” that offers leather seats but omits airbags and a “Safety Pack” that offers airbags but omits leather seats....a puzzling arrangement?! The facelifted Sunny is expected to be launched in July.
The most noticeable changes are to the front end. Notice the sheer amount of chrome! Nissan adds that the car has
the maximum chrome frontage in the segment:
Chrome around the fog lamps…
…chrome on the front bumper lip…
…and a LOT of chrome on the front grille…
…atop which sits the prominent Nissan badge:
Once your eyes adjust to the bling, you'll catch the large new headlamps which are pulled back quite like those of the American Nissan Altima sedan (from a segment higher):
Chrome splashing continues with the side profile. The front door handles have request sensors for
truly keyless entry:
The tail-lamps are carried over from the pre-facelift version, although it must be said that they match the headlamps better now:
Needless to mention, the rear also gets a huge slab of chrome above the number-plate:
Bend a little and observe how Nissan has tweaked the design of the rear bumper to incorporate a plastic element. That’s no diffuser, but it succeeds in breaking the monotony caused by the large bumper. The top-end version has a camera (above the number plate) along with parking sensors, while the mid variant makes do with audible warnings from the sensor-only setup:
The ORVMs of the top-end variant now incorporate smart-looking turn indicators, bringing the Sunny up to speed with this market trend. The mid-variant, however, makes do with traditionally-placed blinkers on the fender…
…and loses some of the bling as well. Pictured here are the rear section & fog lamp housing of the mid variant:
Top variant sports updated alloy wheels wearing 185/65 R15 JK Vectra tyres…
…the lower variants have steel rims, plastic covers and 185/70 R14 rubber:
The radio antenna has been re-positioned to the rear of the roof:
Apart from these updates, there are no changes to the body of the facelifted Nissan Sunny: