Team-BHP - Nissan Micra : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7 (Post 1986257)

Here's the exact break up of Micra prices in Pune. A tad more expensive than my liking, but hey, it's a great car after all. I hope you all find this excel useful.

What is PCMC and 'outside octroi'? Also, the company is charging a bomb on the insurance. Bargain and you can reduce the amount by atleast 5-6K. Also, do not pay 5.5K on the ;standard accessories' if you do not want them - most of the stuff you can get much cheaper outside!

Quote:

Originally Posted by adimicra (Post 1986585)

What is PCMC and 'outside octroi'? Also, the company is charging a bomb on the insurance. Bargain and you can reduce the amount by atleast 5-6K. Also, do not pay 5.5K on the 'standard accessories' if you do not want them - most of the stuff you can get much cheaper outside!

PCMC stands for Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. These are suburbs just like Mumbai has Navi Mumbai. Cars generally cost 5-6K cheaper when you have a PCMC registration (MH-14) as opposed to a Pune registration (MH-12). "Outside octroi", I think means that the octroi will have to be paid by the customer. Can the experts please clarify?

Even I think they are overcharging certain things. The XE+ model which costs ~30K more than XE seems to be another way of getting out more money from the unsuspecting customer. As I had mentioned previously, cotton fabric seat covers + leather grip + wheel caps cost say max 7.5K, then seriously is it really worth paying ~23K alone for a 2-din music system and 4 coaxial speakers? :Shockked: This was the reason why I didn't book the XE+ variant.

I plan to get the car as it is from the showroom without any single accessory fitted. All things can be fitted at Carax which is just about 1 km away from the showroom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prashanthyr (Post 1986590)

The Nissan Micra site has been taken down. Strange, considering the price has just been announced
(mt) Media Temple - Web Hosting Services

They said on facebook that they are upgrading the website this weekend, but should be up sooner than later! They have launched the car without a proper webstie, the old one was a joke anyway! Does no harm even if it is down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adimicra (Post 1986366)

I do not understand this funda about premium, grapevine etc. Is this a company which is listing on the stock exchange or what? What is the premium on other cars? Sounds pretty weird to me and I find it difficult to believe that people pay premium for buying cars unless there is a huge capacity constraint and waiting period, both of which are pretty bad from the manufacturer

The lack of a premium signifies amongst other things that the quoted waiting list for the actual customer, if any, was rigged. In other words, while the company may state "x thousand cars sold/booked", what they actually mean is that the wholesalers have underwritten such and such numbers. This is the first sign that a company which lies on such a basic aspect will lie even more subsequently.

This in turn has the subsequent effect of (a) discounts to reduce stock and (b) also symbolises low resale value and (c) high depreciation in true value right after the car is registered.

People certainly pay a premium for anything if it is (a) good and (b) in short supply. It is now concluded that the Nissan Micra is certainly not in short supply.

Nissan is a company that has managed to get pretty much everything wrong, from pre-launch of other products through to the arrogance at the launch itself, including the amazingly lacklustre performance by the brand ambassador, and all these reflect in the lack of interest in a new product.

Quote:

Originally Posted by malq (Post 1986933)

I agree on the marketing and promotions part.. Nissan has not done a good job at all! They should learn a thing or two from VW - they way they promoted Polo and still doing so - I have not anything like that in my life for any other car!
Micra not being in short supply is a good thing IMO for genuine buyers (who cares for the speculators) :D

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Whilst the old one was a joke, it is an ever bigger joke to shut down the old without the new in place.

Completely unprofessional.

Agree Thad! Have you made your choice? Have you test driven the Micra or the Polo? I think you really liked the Polo's styling and hence more inclined towards the Polo..right?

I was driving thro Velachery road in chennai yesterday and saw lot of Micra's parked inside the compound. Saw one coming out for test drive. Deliberately allowed the car to go before me.
Yes. The car is really big like swift as rightly said by others.
Tomo planning to give my Figo for 1st service and visit this place for TD.
Two mangoes in one shot :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by adimicra (Post 1985290)

If a car gives good build quality and still manages to keep the wight low so that it ultimately helps in performance and fuel efficiency, it serves credit for that. Ultimately it is the performance of the car as a whole and the FE which matters. Isnt it?

Hey, I didn't mean it in a negative way and completely agree with you. The lighter the car, the better (in terms of performance & efficiency).

Quote:

Originally Posted by prashanthyr (Post 1986590)

The Nissan Micra site has been taken down. Strange, considering the price has just been announced

LOL! That's inexplicable. Seems to be up right now though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by malq (Post 1986933)

including the amazingly lacklustre performance by the brand ambassado

Completely agree. Ranbir was a great choice considering that the Micra is primarily targetted at, and available only in, Urban India. However, he has been very poorly used by Nissan's marketing team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adimicra (Post 1987003)

Agree Thad! Have you made your choice? Have you test driven the Micra or the Polo? I think you really liked the Polo's styling and hence more inclined towards the Polo..right?

I'm leaning towards VW, but haven't taken a proper look, let alone a test drive, of either.

I'll probably wait until the Vento comes along, to include that in the possibilities, so no move until later this year.

Urban marketing kicks in!

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Nissan India ties up with Fever 104 FM for Nissan Micra
Unique promotional activity to promote the car in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru

• Three-city promotional activity to commence from July 19, 2010

• Micra to be presented as the best solution for “Come to Office in Style and Comfort”

• Star RJs at Fever 104 will present live shows while travelling in a Micra

Mumbai, July 19, 2010: Nissan Motor India Private Ltd (NMIPL) today launched a unique promotional campaign for the Micra in association with Fever 104 FM. This first-of-its-kind activity will take place from Monday, July 19 to Friday, July 23, 2010 in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. This four-day initiative will include well-known Fever 104 RJs – Anurag Pandey and Karan Singh – conduct their shows LIVE from a Nissan Micra on the move.

The activity will promote “Coming to Office in Style and Comfort” theme with a focus on the Micra. The entire campaign will take place in two phases – teaser and revealer. In the teaser phase, promos of Nissan Micra will be aired along with RJ mentions. The teaser would involve the boss offering the Micra as solution for daily office commute to the RJs. The revealer phase will entail the actual airing of the shows live from a Micra being driven around the city.

Nice review, GTO.

Noticed a few things.
The stats:

Attachment 390547

The Micra, bar the Figo, is big in the segment with a large WB, good length and size (as later mentioned in the review) but the weight is so much lesser than the other cars in the segment. The i10 is lighter than Micre but it is smaller too. Other similar sized cars are ~80-90 kg more than the Micra. Could it be due to the 3 pot motor weighing substantially less than the 4 pot ones? With this, almost expected a comment on flimsy build but there was 'premium sounding thud on door closing' in the review. Perhaps stats of the A Star needs to be checked.

The GC of 154 and the long WB of 2450 could be trouble on speedbreakers and that also was not a major problem as covered in the review.

The door can be opened manually with the skeleton key in case the battery of remote units conks off but there doesn't seem to be any provision to open the boot from outside like this (no keyhole), so one would have to open the door and then remotely release the boot in such a case.

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Originally Posted by Delta Wing (Post 1988642)

A-star is a much much smaller car and should not be brought into the comparison here. Micra being lighter but very solidly built is solely attributed to Nissan's innovation - the 'V' platform.

Have a look yourself and you will appreciate the solid build quality.
It is also more spacious than most other cars - comparable to the Figo and I20 in terms of space and better than others (less than Vista though).