In the MPV and SUV segment in India, Nissan seems a bit underrepresented with the Evalia and Terrano. The Evalia has been a sales disaster for the brand, with the model averaging a meagre 44 units/month (July-December 2013 period). While the Terrano quickly became a best-seller for Nissan in India since its launch in October last year, there is no product above or below it.
Nissan, known as an SUV/crossover specialist abroad, were unable to crack the premium SUV market with the X-Trail which ultimately led to the discontinuation of the product last month in India. While senior company officials have told the media that the brand was considering models such as the Qashqai for the Indian market, we haven't seen the new Qashqai, or even the older model launch in the country.
The Nissan Qashqai can be compared to the Mahindra XUV500, however, the new generation model is available only with five seats. The older model, which came with the option of 5+2 seats will not be launched in India, we learned at the Geneva Motor Show.
Nissan also launched a new X-Trail in Europe which comes with the option of 5+2 seating. However, the company has no ideas to launch a 7-seater product in India anytime soon.
Speaking to Indian Autos Blog at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, Etienne Henry, Vice President Product Strategy and Planning, said -
I don't think we will bring other Nissan products with 7 seats for India. The X-Trail will do an interesting job, but specific market requirements for India like local production do not make it easy to deliver. For now, the MPV segment will be addressed by the Evalia from Nissan (and Go+ from Datsun when its launched later this year).
