The Nissan compact SUV to be launched later this year has got a name. If reports are to be believed, the compact SUV from Nissan based on the Renault Duster, would be called the Nissan Terrano. Does that sound familiar?
The name Nissan Terrano is an old Nissan badge used for a mid-size SUV that it made between 1993 and 2006 in other markets. AutoCar India reports that the rebadged and cosmetically altered Renault Duster by Nissan for India would not just get this name, but it would also be positioned as a slightly more premium compact SUV. This means, it could likely be priced higher than the Renault Duster, contrary to what was previously expected – with Nissan being lower in the brand-positioning hierarchy. Also read: Nissan’s compact Duster-based SUV to be last badge-engineered product from alliance
But when you think of this – this logic of pricing the Nissan Terrano, Nissan’s version of the Renault Duster, higher than the Renault Duster makes sense for the alliance. Look at how the Renault Scala and Renault Pulse are priced. Both these cars are badge-engineered Nissan products, but Renault priced them at a Rs. 30,000 – Rs. 50,000 premium to their Nissan counterparts. This could be a part of an agreement within the alliance to prevent rampant cannibalization of sales between the brands. Also read:Nissan confirms rebadged Duster, Micra and Sunny automatic for India
If Nissan were to price its version of the Duster lower than what Renault has priced the Duster, it would badly affect Renault’s sales. By pricing the Nissan Terrano at least Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 70,000 higher than the Renault Duster, Renault gets to safeguard the sales of the Duster, while those looking for something different would look higher up the value chain at the Nissan Terrano.
This also gives Nissan an opportunity to squeeze in more premium styling and more features in the Terrano, although there are no indications that there would be anything extra on offer. The Terrano is likely to come only with the Renault-Nissan K9K 1.5 litre diesel engine in the 110PS state of tune – keeping it as a pretty premium offering. While external differences between the two are expected to be significant, the interiors may be almost identical except for some badging and infotainment system differences.
We do wish Nissan at least offers a 4×4 variant of this compact SUV, considering Renault has put those plans on the back burner for the Renault Duster. Also see: All you wanted to know about the Renault Duster
Source: AutoCar India
