Team-BHP - New Nissan Micra : Full details & specs. EDIT

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolnawab (Post 1909824)

Guys,

Delivery of the vehicle would commence by July 15, 2010. We expect availability at the rate of 75 vehicles per month.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gupta_chd (Post 1910652)

Is it a joke or I misunderstood something?

I think there are few deduction out of those Statements

a) Looks like 75 vehicles per month is the Dealer Sales plan/Target

b) It looks like annual sales per dealership would be close to 900-1000 Vehicles, I would think quite high compared to maruti's and tata's dealerhip sales.

c) Also, considering Nissan has only 9 or 10 dealer ship right now, even if they expand it to 25 within this year, the max it looks Nissan is planning to sell is 25*900=22500.

d) considering the price of vehicle (3.95 or 3.65 starting) 22500 seems a quite big a number for Nissan.

e) Maruti with at-least 350 Dealers is selling close to 6000 Ritz (annual 72000) which is roughly in same price range as of Micra. Nissan with its dealership size can't be selling more than 20% of that Ritz number. So probably 15K is the maximum probably they can sell, which would just about eke out Punto and Jazz.

Fascinating isn't it. For just about 15 to 20K (most likely) Nissan's own estimated plans, would Indian buyers be giving any chance en-mass to a newbie on the block?Looks tough to me.please:

Quote:

Originally Posted by anu21v (Post 1911110)

I too think Nissan will find it really hard to sell this in volumes as the competition is too tough in the hatchback segment at that price point. Also most ppl would prefer to go with better after sales and resale and beat down Micra, however lets see how it performs. If it can beat the swift in ride quality and zippiness then it might become a winner

Quote:

Originally Posted by anu21v (Post 1909729)

Arun, not to forget the benevolent contribution from "King Khan" who came out of "Advertisement Hiatus" to make that product look "Zexy". If only Nissan can pull out someone from Boolywood, of his stature who hasnt touched any endorsements so far.. Very rare commodity i would say, Hyundai was smart and lucky.

that is rubbish . no one from the south would think of "king khan ". It is more of rajini ,chiranjeevi or mamooty .
Personally , i wouldnt buy an automobile because it they run ads with my favourite star .

Wait for the customer verdict Shiv, Indian customer don't believe in giving chances when it comes to high priced product. They give a chance only if they get a price point by which they can compromise on other important aspect, A.S.S. and covers their risk of buying from a newbie on the block (read Logan and Daewoo), On that yardstick alone Nissan loses out. Thankfully they have their export market, Europe, to take care of their capacity thing atleast. they can keep gaining foothold in this market in future years. Not likely to happen right now. I mean in nissan's place I would be happy if with this price point i somehow outsell, Punto or Jazz probably.

hmm, what about VW ?

I visited the Oxford Nissan dealership today,where a white Micra ( top variant) was on display.My initial observations ( no TD ) are as follows :--
Exteriors--
1.Though the paint quality is good, it cannot hide the bland looks of the
car.
2.The doors shut with a reassuring thud.I liked it.
3.There are wide panel gaps, esp. at the bonnnet line. As per the SP, the
the display car was a pre-production one and hence the panel gaps.
There wont be such huge gaps on the production cars.
4.Though the car is quite tall in height ( 1530 mm) it appears low-slung.
5.Does the front end resemble the A star? I feel so.
Interiors--
1. Plastic quality is good . The light beige colour looks rich.
2. The clutch pedal is set a bit more on the right.One can use the empty
space on the left as foot rest. There is no dead pedal though.
3. The gear shift appears to be short and precise. Probably one of the best in the segment.
4. The most disappointing thing about the car seems to be the seats. The
front ones lack lumbar support and are uncomfortable . The
uncomfortable rear ones lack thigh support, and there are no head
restraints.Even the seat fabric doesnt seem to be made of high quality
material.
Verdict--
At an expectd price of 5.5L on road for the top variant, the car certainly seems to be VFM. I believe this car would be fun to drive, and would be a serious alternative to the Swift. Nissan needs to widen their dealership network along with an efficient and low cost service support ( including spares ) And not to mention, it needs to improve the seat design.

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The front ones lack lumbar support and are uncomfortable . The uncomfortable rear ones lack thigh support

That is bad news. I cannot understand this thing about cars and unsupportive seats. Surely it is no more expensive to make ones that support the right bits in the right places

Quote:

there are no head restraints.

I find it hard to believe that the production model will have no head restraints. They are not a comfort item, but a safety item. They support your head in an accident. They stop you breaking your neck if someone shunts you.

If there were no head restraints, I would rule the car out, completely. I'd be very disappointed: up to this point, my interest has been growing, and the possibility of buying a new car now, not in two years time, has been increasing.

EDIT: there's head restraints in the pics on page one of this thread

EDIT AGAIN: there's head restraints in nickatnite's pics too --- I've stopped panicking!

Quote:

Originally Posted by auto-one (Post 1911844)

No head restraints: What I meant was that there are no height ajustable ones at the rear. They are integrated ones, and as far as safety and comfort are concerned, I doubt about their usefulness, since they are set too low.
And yes, the front seats do have head restraints.

Sorry... I was jumping to conclusions (and worries!) again.

stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickatnite (Post 1907276)

Checked out the new Micra today and i am impressed with the build quality, plastics and ergonomics. Ofcourse, a test drive will reveal all but till then i give this car a 'thumbs-up'. Pity it wasn't released earlier atleast as far as i'm concerned. The Chennai dealer was very helpful and explained all the features in detail and i was told that Nissan Motor is planning a promo event at the Madras Race Track soon. So, there seems to be a serious effort by Nissan to become a volume player in this market and i hope they succeed because they do have a very good product on offer. My only peeve is the rear styling which does take a bit of time to get used to.

Hi Can you let me know where is the nissan dealership exactly in chennai.i heard its in velachery. And any idea on the chennai pricing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by greatmana2000 (Post 1911378)

that is rubbish . no one from the south would think of "king khan ". It is more of rajini ,chiranjeevi or mamooty .
Personally , i wouldnt buy an automobile because it they run ads with my favourite star .

You got to have some bare minimum respect to history of Indian Mini cars. I would strongly recommend you to go through SidIndica's Article on TBHP. :D I think Everyone agrees to this fact that SRK had a major role to play in Hyundai's success and which is why Hyundai still persists with him, even after more than 13 years of association. Also one shouldn't really underestimate the Reach of Mr SRK.

Thanks Sid, for Posting this immensely knowledgeable article.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/collec...-future-4.html

Frankly, The reason why so many people gave an initial try to Hyundai was Mr SRK. And once it started selling Maruti was one terrified pussycat, who had to launch its own version of MPFI engine car WagonR. No Argument that Micra seems a good product at least with its feature list, if not the looks, but will it get the same level of visibility that Hyundai Got? Not Likely since there is No SRK2.

In fact if i remember, Maruti had to comeup with That Maruti "Anywhere Service stations Advt" just to buy sometime, till they could launch Alto and WagonR. It is quite similar strategy which was followed by Bajaj in "Hamara Bajaj Campaign" in late 80s to Counter LML Vespa, till Bajaj came up with some competitive products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by greatmana2000 (Post 1911378)

hmm, what about VW ?

Buddy Even VW has more than 35 Dealerships more than Nissan at this point in time. One look at their first few months sales tells me it is no way going to cross 20K in this year atleast. Don't know what is the underutilization status of VWs $ 1 bn Plant. probably 90% unutilized :D