[AYP]

By looking at the comparison done by Bhpian Godzilla in the earlier post, you do realise the value of the Kicks 1.3 Turbo. However, even among enthusiasts, I would say that most will still prefer the Seltos GTK over the Kicks top end turbo(it is a pain to write the entire nomenclature of the Kicks top end variant ) or would rather stretch for the GTX variant. Why do you ask? Well, the Seltos is only marginally less powerful than the Kicks and I need not emphasise on why the Seltos is being lapped up by the market unlike the Kicks. With no monetary incentive to go for the Kicks top end over the Seltos GTK, many will choose to stick to a safer option(safer need not mean that it can't be better as well).

The current pricing might be appropriate for the Kicks 1.3 as a product vs the Seltos, but many of us were expecting a price which would practically force at least the enthusiasts to go for the Kicks and create a higher opportunity for the fence sitters to go for the Kicks. And that price would have been 12.5-13L for the top end with the base variant starting at around 10.5-11L. It is this very crowd who were expecting a surprise from Nissan are disappointed and that is what we are seeing on this thread.

With that being said, the Turbo base variant(XV) still makes for a great buy for an enthusiast as it is priced a whole 2L lesser than the Seltos GTK and is decently equipped.

[armaan_singh]

IMO Nissan has really botched the pricing of the turbo variants, especially the ones in the CVT guise.
It's not that they're too expensive or anything, they are decently priced in comparison to the competition, however their own XV non turbo petrol variant is amazingly specced and is priced at just 11.3 Lacs(OTR - Gurgaon) while the turbo manual counterpart hits 13.5 Lacs(OTR- Gurgaon), with no difference what so ever in features or kit on offer. So 2.2 Lacs apart just for the turbo engine. They could have chosen to go the Kia route and add in things like a sun roof or heads up display or ventilated seats to at least justify the price jump to cater to more people other than just enthusiasts. Add another 1.8 Lacs and you get the CVT, so now we are looking at a price difference of 4 Lacs for no addition kit except the engine. I mean I like peppy engines but I want my 15 Lac car to have at least some more bling than the 11 lac car.
However the non turbo XV variant at 11.3 is an amazing deal given the amount of kit it brings to the table and it absolutely kills the creta and seltos.
Unfortunately though, some enthusiasts might indulge themselves but I dont see this killing the charts for Nissan, especially given that they had a great opportunity here.

I've driven the petrol kicks in its bs4 guise and while it didn't set the road on fire, it did its duty just fine, and with the current prices and assuming how the sales would go, I might just pick one up around Diwali when they shave off 70-80K more off the price to make it an unbeatable deal at around 10.5 OTR.

[Diesel_Drives]

Originally Posted by AYP

The current pricing might be appropriate for the Kicks 1.3 as a product vs the Seltos, but many of us were expecting a price which would practically force at least the enthusiasts to go for the Kicks and create a higher opportunity for the fence sitters to go for the Kicks. And that price would have been 12.5-13L for the top end with the base variant starting at around 10.5-11L. It is this very crowd who were expecting a surprise from Nissan are disappointed and that is what we are seeing on this thread.
.

Given the market dynamics, buying a Nissan isn't completely a safe bet. I am saying this when I am driving a 4 months old Kicks myself! Having driven a Duster for over 170k kms and the value proposition that a discounted Kicks offered, I was then inclined to bet on Kicks vis a vis it's competition.

Likewise give it 3-6 months time, and with the discounts kicking in, it is then these Turbo Petrols might attract the 'fence sitters' and lure them from pricey competition. Till then I don't see it bringing any major numbers for Nissan.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Drives

Given the market dynamics, buying a Nissan isn't completely a safe bet. I am saying this when I am driving a 4 months old Kicks myself! Having driven a Duster for over 170k kms and the value proposition that a discounted Kicks offered, I was then inclined to bet on Kicks vis a vis it's competition.

I'd also be slightly concerned about this new 1.3 turbo-petrol. It's a relatively new engine and probably currently fully imported from abroad. Give it a few months to see how it fares on Indian petrol before taking the plunge.

https://group.renault.com/en/news-on...e-and-daimler/

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I'd also be slightly concerned about this new 1.3 turbo-petrol. It's a relatively new engine and probably currently fully imported from abroad. Give it a few months to see how it fares on Indian petrol before taking the plunge.

I wouldn't worry about that too much. We have seen plenty of new engines being offered without having any issues. No one (to my mind) had issues with the TJet/ Multi Air 1.4, or the MJD when it was launched. Or indeed the VW TSi.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

I wouldn't worry about that too much. We have seen plenty of new engines being offered without having any issues. No one (to my mind) had issues with the TJet/ Multi Air 1.4, or the MJD when it was launched. Or indeed the VW TSi.

Appreciate your point too. Only submitting that this is a brand new engine even globally (May 2018), unlike the others quoted by you that IIRC were running across the world in many iterations before they were brought to India.

For example, Renault had issues with this one's predecessor (1.2 TCe): https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...l-oil-problems

Skoda suffered similarly with the 1.5 TSI:
https://car-recalls.eu/official-vw-s...5-tsi-engines/
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-ne...ght-for-owners

V2 is ALWAYS better.

[babhishek]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Appreciate your point too. Only submitting that this is a brand new engine even globally (May 2018), unlike the others quoted by you that IIRC were running across the world in many iterations before they were brought to India.

For example, Renault had issues with this one's predecessor (1.2 TCe): https://www.theguardian.com/money/20...l-oil-problems

Skoda suffered similarly with the 1.5 TSI:
https://car-recalls.eu/official-vw-s...5-tsi-engines/
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-ne...ght-for-owners

V2 is ALWAYS better.

Well, we need to keep in mind that the fuel is also BS VI now. So issues with this engine will be minimal/zero. Anyways test mules would have run thousands of kms as part of homogenization as/if required.

[84.monsoon]

The pricing of the Turbo Petrol and CVT Variants is very disappointing, Nissan had an opportunity to shock the market and position itself as the value and technology leader, and resurrect the Kicks from the ashes! This is unfortunately missed and will result in low volumes and discounting of these variants.

However, I cannot complain about the XV NA 1.5 variant pricing. It offers tremendous value over the Creta EX 1.5, both being priced at 9.99 Lakhs ex-showroom. I have included a comparison of the features of the two, stressing mainly only the differences. You can see that in every way, the Kicks is superior, the only feature Creta has to offer that Kicks does not have is the projector headlamp. That and a slightly better power and torque figures. In comparison, the Kicks has some fantastic features of value like 17 inch alloy wheels, reversing camera, Connect Car Tech, Auto AC, Rear wiper/washer, Fog Lamps, better ground clearance, despite being a larger car in all dimensions.

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

The pricing of the Turbo Petrol and CVT Variants is very disappointing, Nissan had an opportunity to shock the market and position itself as the value and technology leader, and resurrect the Kicks from the ashes! This is unfortunately missed and will result in low volumes and discounting of these variants.

However, I cannot complain about the XV NA 1.5 variant pricing. It offers tremendous value over the Creta EX 1.5, both being priced at 9.99 Lakhs ex-showroom. I have included a comparison of the features of the two, stressing mainly only the differences. You can see that in every way, the Kicks is superior, the only feature Creta has to offer that Kicks does not have is the projector headlamp. That and a slightly better power and torque figures. In comparison, the Kicks has some fantastic features of value like 17 inch alloy wheels, reversing camera, Connect Car Tech, Auto AC, Rear wiper/washer, Fog Lamps, better ground clearance, despite being a larger car in all dimensions.

Hi 84.Monsoon. I hope you saw my post #133 in this thread. I have added some info on how both Manual and Turbo variants are VFM. However, I do believe that what Nissan offers could only appeal to a small set of people who are looking for Value and are willing to go against the grain. Those who crave for top features will likely go for the Koreans. To simply put, I don't think Kicks will sell anywhere close to Seltos. I feel it will be a huge win if they can sustain more than 1000 units per month for the next 12 months and Nissan knows it.

[Bibendum90949]

Let's assume for a moment that the new Kicks is launched by Maruti or Toyota. What would be it's impact in the market. It'll most certainly be a run away success and give the Koreans a run for their money. In India brand value and their long term stability is a factor before one puts their hard money on a big ticket purchase as a car. There would be those small chunk of unsuspecting buyers who would take the plunge with a iffy brand like Nissan at least in India( No offence to Nissan owners please)

On paper, Kicks ticks most of the boxes right. No doubting it's quality too. But if Nissan has any serious ambitions of becoming a serious player here, they should revamp their product portfolio and should undertake a mammoth re branding exercise and then Bob's your uncle. Till then they'll go round in circles I guess.

[theguardian]

Hello Gents,

Very good pricing by Nissan.

Nissan XV, CVT is around 3.12 lacs cheaper than Kia Seltos GTX AT (DCT), which seems to be more than a good difference (OTR - Pune).

I am just wondering whether Nissan should have been a bit more aggressive with Kicks CVT, why? because Kicks, last year was not well received by the consumers in spite of being a very competent offering; does this argument hold well for them to price their latest offering very low? IMHO, I don't think so.

If you ask me honestly, I was expecting this sort of pricing some time back, and I am pleased with it. I am already driving petrol Kicks and very happy with it, be it's build quality or the service center responsiveness; very much satisfied.

Now, I am having an itch so who knows, I may take the plunge and trade my Stallion with the beast.

Their virtual showroom is live, here is the URL:

https://virtualshowroom.nissan.in/index.html

[octane_100]

Once TD is available, I am itching to go take a TD of the manual. Though I am longing for a good AT, Kicks' sorted dynamics along with a good petrol is making me think otherwise.

[ramki.grandhi]

Just to give a perspective of how powerful is this engine, i've compared with fortuner's. I know its not a direct competition(NA vs turbo), still it amazes me.

Given that Fortuner weighs 2500kg, Im sure this 1.3 turbo would make Kicks(1300kg) run as rocket.

[Nalin1]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

There would be those small chunk of unsuspecting buyers who would take the plunge with a iffy brand like Nissan at least in India( No offence to Nissan owners please)

A small correction. They are not 'unsuspecting' buyers. But people who have applied their brains and done their homework instead of buying a car because they saw four of the same in their office parking and three of the same in their apartment parking.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Nalin1

A small correction. They are not 'unsuspecting' buyers. But people who have applied their brains and done their homework instead of buying a car because they saw four of the same in their office parking and three of the same in their apartment parking.

Hi Nalin, I truly respect your opinion. I guess you have read my post further to the quoted points above. I've no two doubts about the quality of Kicks as a car and the VFM proposition it brings to the table vis-a-vis Seltos, Creta etc.

I was just trying to highlight about Nissan's existence as a manufacturer in India. The dwindling sales numbers are there for all to see. What it means to me is I would think twice to put my money on it - just my thinking and personal opinion. In the event of them shutting shop, the car would take a high depreciation hit besides losing out big time on it's resale value. I as a car buyer would always heavily factor in such things and not just on how the car is technically superior, better engineered or the value proposition it holds.