What's the matter with Nissan Europe?

Vltros

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
1,724
Location
Manresa (Barcelona)
Car(s)
2011 Honda CR-Z 1977 Ford Fiesta MK1
I couldn't but notice that there hasn't been a new Nissan in Europe in months.

Let me explain. The Almera for example, it's 7 year's old and hasn't been a replacement for it yet. And the same with the Primera.

The only new cars we have seen so far are 4x4's (Pathfinder), SUV's (Murano) and the Micra. Which aren't brand new neither.

What's happening with them? Are they just lazi, or I'm rubbish at reading motoring news because I haven't heard of the replacement of at least the Almera or the Primera?
 
In America, Nissan is getting ready in a big way to unleash a lot of new models next year as it will be Nissan's 50th year in America. So, being the company they are, you should see a lot of changes in the coming months.
 
Next year we shall recieve the blandtastic Versa, just like Hiro and Mystery Sock!
 
no new cars in europe for nissan?

there's the note, the micra C+C and the qashqai

also, there's the new almera replacement and the primera replacement....


oh and the micra replacement will be coming in a couple of years....

(they are all built in god's country you know)
 
I have seen posts asking if it is relevant to the show before - ahpadt answer not directly but general automative discussion is of some interest to a number of members, there are numerous other threads mostly talking about leaf springs as I recall.

In this case - Renault own Nissan and believe me when I tell you they are not going to let Nissan bring out something better in a category within which they have offerings in Europe. This is perfectly understandable - but puts Europe in a reverse Ford position, we get the "crap" from Nissan and NA gets the best new stuff - no Renault there do you see.

/EDIT and I think Infinity is coming so management attention is on that too - Renault do not really have a luxury car in Europe.
 
Last edited:
they do, but nobody wants it. the velsatis and the new laguna are great luxury cars. but since they're french, nobody takes them seriously.
 
Yawn. You guys aren't missing much. The Tiida might be dirt cheap (in fact it's one of the cheapest in its class here), but it's too tall, a bit dumpy looking, and from all reports, pretty boring to drive.

Also, it commits the worst offence a small hatch can commit. There's no hot version. Even the old Pulsar had an SSS model (at least until N15).

The Nissan lineup in the 90's was very good (the N14 Pulsar was an excellent car), what went wrong?
 
As mentioned before, the main reason for the poor Nissan line-up in Euroe is Nissan's strategic alliance with Renault. In Germany, Nissan was the second best established Japanese brand until ten years ago. In the early 1990s, the Sunny and Primera were amongst the most favoured import cars, the downfall began with the Almera which simply was too dull and ordinary to live up with the competition that started to position their vehicles as near luxury vehicles or emphasised on emotional aspects of driving while Nissan decided to only carefully modernise its range. Else, by the end of the 1990s, every European manufactorer had jumped on the exploding demand for direct injection diesel engines, a field in which the Japanese weren't developing because their focus was on the domestic and American market back then. I don't know the exact background, but Carlos Ghosn's move from Nissan to Renault must've included a strategy that left the European market to Renault, because whereas other Japanese brands at least put efforts in styling (Mazda6 or Honda Accord for example) or the DIesel engine technology (Toyota's DID-engines), Nissan was left either with old models (such as the Almera) or models that couldn't live up to the demand like the Primera, which never ever has been on sale with a Diesel engine in Europe although Renault would've been able to deliver very competitive material in this case.

By the way: the Tiida was presented at the Frankfurt Motro Show this year with price lists in Euros which leads me to the fact that it must be on sale in Germany now. However, I've not seen a single advert for it, instead, Nissan's hopes are on the Quashquai as a "funky" pseudo SUV-alternative for all the dull and ordinary compact cars out there...
 
Don't know about Germany, but in Spain the Tiida has just gone on sale. I haven't seen any adverts for it, either, but if that's the best Nissan has to offer to counter the likes of the Focus, the Leon, the Megane and the Astra, I don't expect to see many rolling around the streets. In fact, Nissan seem to agree, because they reckon they're going to sell around 4500 in Spain next year. To put that in perspective, SEAT sold about the same number of Ibizas last month.

I suppose the reason Nissan has a lot to do with their alliance with Renault. Nissan is strong in off-roaders and SUVs, where Renault hasn't got any experience, but the rest of the market niches are left to Renault. It makes sense, and, after seeing the Tiida, I don't think we're missing much.
 
well im 17 and soon to do my practical. and the car im looking at getting is a 1.4 old 1st gen almera. from what ive read there great to drive, plus it has 85bhp and is only insurance group 4. pick a reasonable one up for ?600-800. it seems ideal. and there not that boring to look at imo
 
so who's with me... the nissan r35 gtr will get a release in europe as a renault alpine??? ok maybe not, but it would be cool none the less
 
well im 17 and soon to do my practical. and the car im looking at getting is a 1.4 old 1st gen almera. from what ive read there great to drive, plus it has 85bhp and is only insurance group 4. pick a reasonable one up for ?600-800. it seems ideal. and there not that boring to look at imo

Nothing wrong with the N15 Pulsar. I'd probly go the 1.6 though, 1.4L is too small for a car like that, IMO. That and the GA16 is an excellent engine.
 
Nissan USA is getting a few new cars.

They just released the rogue and Altima Coupe.
 
I'd say Japanese carmakers are doing pretty awful overall in Europe. In Sweden there's no japanese manufacturer on the top 10 list of cars sold here in 2007, and apart from Toyota the market share is pretty minimal. Mitsubishi currently holds 1.01% of the market for example. Nissan are sold alongside Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Cadillac here. Not the best company for a car in a sales hall.
 
well im 17 and soon to do my practical. and the car im looking at getting is a 1.4 old 1st gen almera. from what ive read there great to drive, plus it has 85bhp and is only insurance group 4. pick a reasonable one up for ?600-800. it seems ideal. and there not that boring to look at imo

Go for it, but make sure that the major components are working fine for that sort of price tag.
 
Top