Nissan aims to leverage SUV heritage to revive India speed

Bhuj (Gujarat): Japanese auto major Nissan is leveraging on its SUV heritage as the brand seeks a 'renaissance' in India, a senior company official said Tuesday.

Nissan, which last launched a totally new product under the brand in India way back in 2013 when it brought Terrano, is planning to kick off its revival journey in the market with the launch of compact SUV Kicks in January.

"We (Nissan) have got great SUV heritage and DNA. It seems appropriate that the first vehicle in our renaissance is an SUV," Nissan India Vice President (Marketing) Peter Clissold said here.

He said the company will start booking for its upcoming Kicks SUV from Friday and deliveries in January.

"Kicks is our first all-new vehicle in the market in some time. It is going to be introduced in C-SUV segment, a growing but a competitive segment," Clissold added.

The new model from Nissan will compete with the likes of Hyundai Creta and S-Cross from Maruti Suzuki, which are priced in the range of Rs 8.85 lakh and Rs 15.1 lakh.

When asked about Nissan's plans for expanding its product portfolio in India, he said, "We are looking at all segments — both above and below the Kicks. You will see a good range of SUVs in Nissan line up in future".

On whether the company's product future line up will be driven by SUVs, Clissold said, "I wouldn't say exclusively SUV, but we will leverage on our strong SUV credentials as we look at the product plans in India.

"I expect to see an expansion of SUV line up, but Nissan isn't an SUV brand exclusively, including in India."