Right from the onset, the Magnite was meant to be a make-or-break product for Nissan in India. It was entrusted with the responsibility of bringing in a fresh lease of life for the Japanese carmaker in India and it has rightly delivered. Launched in December 2020, the Magnite has singlehandedly been responsible for reviving the dying carmaker's fortunes in India. Magnite's key to it's success has certainly been it's pricing as it not only undercuts the entire sub-compact SUV segment, but even overlaps the premium hatchback space.
As per an official statement, Nissan recorded overall sales of 4,012 units in March 2021. In comparison, the carmaker sold only 825 units of vehicles in March 2020. That's nearly a four-fold increase in sales (386%), and the Magnite can easily be understood to have contributed to the chunk of these numbers. Nissan currently has just three models on sale in India - the Magnite, Kicks and the GT-R. The Kicks only brings in reasonable numbers for Nissan and is starting to show its age in the face of newer competition. Meanwhile, the GT-R sportscar sells only a handful, if at all.
Also Read : Nissan Magnite Latest Waiting Period Revealed
Moreover, comparing Nissan's sales performance in FY2021 to that of FY2020, the carmaker recorded marginally grown from 17,886 units to 18,884 units. That is a growth of 6% for the 2020-2021 financial year. Although its only marginal, positive sales for the previous fiscal come at a time when the industry was its lowest, owing to the coronavirus lockdown. It must be noted that the first quarter of the last financial year reported dismal sales, only managing to recover during the festive period in the remainder of the year.
Earlier this month, Nissan announced that they have reached 10,000 units production milestone for the Magnite in India. In March 2021, Nissan had announced that they have received over 40,000 bookings for the Magnite, a number which is surely much greater by now. Demand for the Magnite is obviously much greater than Nissan is being able to meet, with the carmaker expected to have delivered only 1/4th of the total number of orders they have received. This has led to an unusually high waiting period on the Magnite, extending up to several months in certain cities. That said, Nissan is operating at full capacity at its manufacturing plant to try to reduce the waiting period.
Speaking to our dealer sources in a few metro cities, we have learnt that non-turbo variants of the Magnite are in much greater demand than the turbo-petrol variants, which means they are also seeing the higher waiting period. The primary reasons for this is that the non-turbo variants offer the best mix of affordability and value the Magnite has to offer. Our dealer sources also revealed that the mid-spec XL and second-from-top XV trims are seeing maximum demand. That means while people are opting for the base-spec engine due to its affordability, they do not quite want to miss out on the features and value the Magnite offers in it's higher-spec trims. Prices for the Nissan Magnite currently range between INR 5.49 lakh to INR 9.90 lakh (Ex-showroom).
Stay tuned to IndianAutosBlog.com for more Nissan updates and other four-wheeler news.
