Nissan NV200

The Indian mid-size van segment is warming up. While GM has plans to launch vans from its international tie-ups, Nissan is now testing the NV200 in India for a 2012 launch. As visible in this exclusive spy picture taken by us, the NV200 that will come to India looks exactly like its international counterpart. The front of the NV200 is quite striking and a big change from what we have been seeing on these kind of vehicles. Even side on, the execution of the front and rear side windows are good and the wheel arches are slightly flared as well. Dimension wise, the Nissan NV200 is 4.4m long, 1.86m tall and 1.69m wide. To be made in India with its tie up with Ashok Leyland, the NV200 is likely to be sold in both passenger and commercial versions.

In the passenger version, the Nissan NV200 will have three rows of seats with two seating configurations of either 7 or 8 seats. The cabin seems to be spacious and we particularly like the execution of the central console with also houses the gear lever. This frees up quite a lot of space for the front seats which also means that the commercial version will be able to seat 3 people up front with ease and hence utilise the rear space for cargo. Practical touches include the cleverly placed bottle holders in front of the air-con vents! The top end passenger variants will get optional ABS and air-bags with standard affair being the keyless entry, power steering, all power windows, rear air-con vents, audio system etc.

Powering the Nissan NV200 in India will be the same 1.5-litre dCi motor that powers the Renault Fluence. However, in the NV200, expect the max power to be around 80Bhp with the engine tuned for pulling power. Nissan claims that the NV200 is very aerodynamic and hence expect good fuel economy figures as well. This engine will be mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. An automatic option is ruled out at the moment.

Nissan showcased the NV200 at the Jan 2012 Auto Expo to see initial feedback. Ii will be called the Evalia and  we expect the Evalia range to start at around Rs 6,00,000 for the base commercial version and end at Rs 10,00,000 for the top end passenger version.

                           The Nissan NV200 will also be sold in a commercial version like this