Team-BHP - 2024 Nissan X-Trail Review

Ladies and gentlemen,
This is the Japanese doing a French move for you. I guess they worshipped Citroen before finalising the product launch. It's does almost everything the Citroen way:
- Small engine capacity which performs decently.
- Underwhelming feature list.
- Tiny dealer footprint.
- A very basic interior.
- Making a mockery of the Indian customer right into the face.

This is in no manner a halo product. Leave aside Fortuner, even the Kodiaq will be thanking Nissan for this product.

Somehow, none of the media reviewers had pointed out the fact that this is not E20 compatible. Thanks to Team-BHP, people would at least be made aware. This is a highly concerning omission. Are CBUs exempted from E20 compliance even with BS6 Phase 2 norms applicable since April 2023?

This is definitely an unsold lot of lower variants from UK or Japan brought into India for dumping. What a waste of everyone's time. In my opinion, even if they offer discounts 6 months down the line, they'll not find any buyers because of the following reasons.

1. The engine is an imported unit and right now there are no mechanics that can even comprehend the variable compression and how to fix them (they're known to have problems at higher mileage from Nissan Rogue in USA)
2. Because it is not produced here, spare parts will be very expensive and I'm afraid they'll not be available in just a few years from now (because this is the older model from 2021).

I own the Magnite CVT and I found it to be great value for money. This Nissan X-Trail is definitely not going to be anything close even if Nissan decides to sell it at a loss. I'm disappointed to see such an indifferent management and terrible selling strategy from Nissan leaders in India.

Nice one Omkar.

Somehow Nissan still seems to be living in the past decade. Quite an underwhelming launch of what is a very nice SUV globally. And we get an outdated model as a CBU. As many mentioned just bringing left overs from the pre-facelift batch to India.

I like the way it looks but the features list or the lack off is disappointing. Our home grown Tata and Mahindra have really taken the game to the next level and boast a feature list that even cars from some luxury marques cannot match. The X-Trail doesnt stand a chance there.

I expect this to be priced no less than 45 lakh OTR. With that pricing, I dont see why anyone would pick this over the competition like the Kodiaq, Tiguan, XUV700 and the Tata Safari. Heck even the Scorpio N seems to have more features and dare I say the Thar ROXX as well from the teasers I see.

The dealer network? I actually had to ask a colleague a while ago as to where the Nissan dealership in Mumbai is. Plus CBU = expensive spare parts and long waits for them.

Nissan has some brilliant cars in their global model portfolio, but they never seem to get things right in India.

A question that always keeps running in mind. If you want to launch CBUs why dont you bring in the Patrol. If Toyota can sell the Land Cruiser and Lexus the LX for eye watering prices and finding homes in Indian garages, there will be takers for the Patrol because it does have a fan following here.

What’s with international brands and Launches in India? I mean 99% of this forum are not from the auto industry but are capable of assessing how a given car will do in the Indian market. What baffles me is how industry experts who have been in the Indian market for aeons are not able to explain to these brands on what works and what doesn’t work in India? Do they get any loan write offs in their parent countries if they are able to show loss in other markets like India?

Thank you for an excellent review, I really liked the way we call out "cons" on team-bhp reviews without any bias. It truly differentiates us vs paid reviewers on youtube.

I've no idea why but some how I'm liking this car irrationally. May be this is because we are seeing a new offering from Nissan after a long gap? I wish this car lot of success and hope Nissan will manufacture this locally, to stay relevant in India market. If Skoda/Vw can price their tiny "SUVs" at 17 lakhs ex showroom for their 1.0 engine(even after 96% localization), may be Nissan can price this CBU car at 30 lakhs. Anything beyond this price range may not lead to success.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PB65 (Post 5808606)

Honestly, this attempt from Nissan feels much poorer than Citroen's all attempts combined. I mean to say Nissan pulled off moves which make me feel like Citroen is doing a much better job. Skimping on E20 compatibility is just not ok to me. I thought every car on sale in India has to be E20 compliant. Surprising that this isn't. And that touchscreen looks dated snd small to me, but I guess we have much bigger things to complain about. Wonder who does the market research and planning for such miserable product launches. Even after the price reveal(which will happen next month) I feel this car would be one of the worst car launches to have happened in the past 5 years.

For this car to sell well, I mean decent numbers (and I wish it does) - The on-road price has to be under 25L. Ideally 20L but that we all know is not going to happen. Basically it will be a good alternative to Alcazar, Hector Twins, Scorpio Petrol, Carens, etc.

I like the car from the pictures - the size, seats, small trick are all nice. But it has a lot going against it - Petrol only, missing features, missing spare wheel (*** man??), etc. Basically the CONs listed here are serious offences for any buyer.

But if priced right (20-25L), Nissan might get some decent numbers. But we know Nissan, it will not be able to price it at that level. This will flop due to pricing, again.

Essentially, this will be the CR-V moment for Nissan.

Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. Nissan is launching a new CBU 'premium' SUV/crossover which is not premium in the features it offers relative to the market. Neither is it new, as it's technically an older generation model. And the best part? It's not even E20 fuel compatible.
Why would anyone choose this over the XUV or the Safari, even if, and that's a very big if, it launches around the same price bracket? I've seen quite a few launches that have not made any sense, but this one is borderline comical.
Can't wait for Nissan to use the failure of this launch to push the narrative that 'Indians do not like premium products'.

Nissan doesn't seem genuinely interested in selling this car; it appears they're just looking to expand their portfolio. Given the current slowdown in the auto industry, no sensible manufacturer would launch such an underwhelming product. Not only does it fail to compete with the Fortuner and Kodiaq, but even if priced similarly to the XUV or Scorpio, it’s unlikely to attract many buyers. With significant price cuts and discounts—2 lakhs on the XUV, and up to 10 lakhs on models like the Camry and Hilux—it's baffling that Nissan thinks they can offload their overpriced, outdated units in India. This car lacks features that are now standard in vehicles two to three segments lower.

Launch of this model in India through CBU route just weeks after an update of same car announced in Europe has me speculating that Nissan is just trying to dump old cars in Indian market which were lying in their factory here and there.

Although the laugh in India was teased since long, but the car teased in not the one being launched. Nissan showed their full hybrid car in various teasers etc, which had electric motor driving wheels, like Honda City. This is not the same car.

Good car. Terrific brand equity.
Will be let down by its price, (because it is a CBU), and the fact that is already a generation old. Customers intending to pay INR3.5-4 million for a car are well-heeled, well travelled and know which car model sells where.
You cannot placate them by selling a generation old pre-facelift X-Trail.
They will not bite the bait. Don't believe it? Ask Mercedes what happened to them when they launched their first E-Class in India, that too way back in the 90's and vowed that they would not committ that same mistake again.

I guess the top management at Nissan India suffers from selective myopia or amnesia or complete inability to read the market or all three.
They do not know the history of the premium Indian automotive buyer segment or the mindset of the Indian car buyer contemplating on spending upwards of INR 4million on an automobile.

While the engine technology is indeed the very best in the world, it will sway possibly only 0.5% of potential buyers.
Rest of the buyers will be least interested and knowing Nissan showroom sales staff they would be struggling to explain clearly to buyers what variable compression ratio is all about.
Chances of potential buyers veering away, and choosing a Tata or a Mahindra, between INR 29-30 lakhs, with all those missing features, particularly ADAS and vented seats, is a reality.

Why doesn't Nissan look out of its window towards its Chennai neighbour, Hyundai and just copy their product plan?
Hyundai nowadays launches a model in India within a couple of month of it being launched internationally.

Competition too is not slowing down: the next gen Kodiaq will be in soon(with ADAS), VW is getting in the Tayron, Hyundai is seriously considering the Palisade, Jeep is equipping the Meridian with ADAS and launching it this year, Ford's new Everest will come in with a loaded feature set etc.

Nissan is a brilliant engineering company with some very impressive cars in their global portfolio. A little bit of clever thinking and correct understanding of our market and then making products accordingly can bring the brand back into contention. We can give Nissan a lot of constructive suggestions but they will not listen. And why should we tell them? Let the top sales & marketing people earn their stripes and be worthy of their salaries!

Good luck Nissan!