Long awaited Nissan Micra will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show

By the end of this year or probably in a couple of years, Indians will be confused to choose from the vast array of hatchbacks on sale. With enough hatchbacks already on sale, they were recently joined by the Beat which will be followed by the Figo, Polo, new WagonR, Micra, Etios, all new Swift, Honda’s 2CV and possibly Ford’s European Fiesta hatchback. We think each of these cars hold their own special charm and appeal and Nissan will  launch their much awaited Micra at the Geneva Motor Show. Built presently at Nissan facilities in Thailand, China and India, the new Micra is expected to set standards for superminis.

One tip that we have got is that Nissan is referring to the next-gen Micra as the “all new Global compact car’” suggesting that the Micra name could be dropped in favour of a newer name. The new small car will be shown to the public for the first time and will be Nissan’s most important model for the next few years. Built on the much acclaimed V-platform which boasts of special features like reduced no of parts and extensive use of plastic parts in the powertrain is expected to be one of the lightest cars in its segment. This combined with a 3-cylinder petrol engine and Logan’s much acclaimed K9K diesel engine could quite stir up the segment if priced right. Nissan still has one problem but more on that later.

The Juke will also be shown for the first time in flesh and what a mode it is. The styling coupled with a 1.6L turbocharged 190bhp engine could be the perfect vehicle for India. Prices for the Juke are expected to start at Rs 9 lakhs in UK. In addition, the company has confirmed that the Nissan Leaf, updated Nissan Qashqai, refreshed Nissan Pathfinder and Navara and the Nissan 370Z Roadster will be on display.

While there are many sightings of the Micra undergoing tests in Chennai, there have been no spy shots yet. The car is built at Nissan’s state of the art facility in Chennai. Nissan will also launch a saloon version based on the same platform. The final variant on the V-platform will be a mini-MPV, something in between the Jazz and Maruti’s R///.

More importantly, we had earlier reported that the next-gen Renault Clio could be made in India, sharing the same V-platform. While this is not confirmed yet, we arent sure what would happen to the Micra. Considering that the car turns out to be really spectacular, and everybody is willing to buy one but where? Where are the dealers? For any good car to sell well, there has to be a strong dealer network and we feel Nissan is delaying the same. With so much competition, its going to be really difficult to survive in India.