New Nissan Teana lands in China next month; EWB version to follow

Nissan's flagship sedan - the Nissan Teana - started its life way back in 2003. Nissan introduced the Teana in India as well, as its luxury sedan offering. Since then, the next generation Teana was announced in 2008.

While the Asian Teana and its western world relative Altima have shared something in common in the past, the future will see them converge.

A few weeks ago, we brought you spyshots from China, showing a chromed-up Altima wearing the Teana name. Nissan has been manipular with its global nameplates. The Sunny (B Class) and the Sylphy (C Class) are the two examples of Nissan using a global model strategy and the Altima/Teana is almost certain to follow suit in the CD Class.

The difference between the two models is mostly cosmetic in nature. However, that being said, this new Teana gives us a good idea of what the future Nissans could look like. There is a 'boomerang' like element to the headlights and the entire front grille of the Teana is swept back. This design language was previewed by the Ellure Concept in late 2010.

Nissan feels that majority of their sales don't come from the young audience, which could be a potential disaster in the future, especially the young audience in the emerging markets such as China.

Inside the hood, the refreshed Teana would no longer offer the 3.5-liter V6 engine. Instead, the base 2.0-liter (not sold in India) gets a power upgrade and the 2.5-liter V6 will continue duty on the higher spec models.

The new Teana is expected to go on sale in China on March 1, 2013. However, Nissan would also be considering an extended wheel base version of the Teana for the Chinese market exclusively. The lengthened Teana (stretched by about 11cm) will go on sale by October this year.

Prices for the Teana start from CNY 190,000 (INR 16.24 lakhs) to CNY 320,000 (INR 27.35 lakhs).

Nissan India may look at bringing the new Teana in once the Sylphy project is finished. If this Teana is a global model, we should certainly see it launch here by 2016.

[Source - Auto.Sohu.com]