The Nissan Sunny, famous for the best rear-seat legroom in its class is all set to receive a comprehensive update. Autocar reports that Nissan is developing a new generation of the C-segment sedan which will go on sale in 2018.
The sedan is likely to feature sharp styling cues borrowed from the new Micra. Even though it is likely to feature an extended wheelbase, the new Sunny might be smaller than the outgoing model to ensure more balanced handling characteristics. As a result, it might lose the signature Sunny ‘caaaar’ legroom.
This will be designed as a global vehicle with both left and right hand drive variants on offer. The global markets, where the Sunny goes on sale as the Versa or Almera, are likely to receive the update based on the versatile new V platform. However, the Indian version is likely to stick to the old CMF platform to ensure financial feasibility.
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When it goes on sale in India, it would have to go up in a very competitive market, against the established Honda City, Hyundai Verna and the Vento-Rapid twins from Volkswagen. It is likely to hold a long feature list to help it counter its rivals. Completely modern, redesigned interiors should also help it gain interest.
The new Nissan will carry over the 1.5 Litre petrol engine which can deliver up to 105 BHP of peak power. It is also likely to receive both manual and automatic gearboxes, with the latter being powered by the X-Tronic CVT box from the existing lineup.
Interestingly, Autocar claims that a diesel motor is likely to be skipped in the Indian market. This comes as a surprise, especially in a segment that is increasingly seeing a shift to the chauffeur driven side – a niche where the Sunny and the Ciaz used to be leaders.