Nissan Micra

A fresh piece of meat in the middle of a pride of lions. No this isn’t an animal planet reference, but the spot in which Nissan has launched their new “little” car the Nissan micra. Entering a segment that forms a major part of the Indian car market, the micra has got some fierce competition both from cars that have already established themselves as benchmarks as well as new-comers such as the ford fiesta and the Volkswagen polo. The micra small car as it may be isn’t low on performance. Powered by a 1200cc 3 cylinder in-line DOHC engine this wolf in a sheepskin pumps out a decent 75 bhp at 6000rpm and an impressive torque of 104nm. One of the most impressive abilities of the micra is its stingy turning radius which is the lowest in the segment making it an absolute joy for in-city driving. It’s looks are deceiving as they hide the 226 litres of boot space that it has. The micra has unique features such as the push-button start seen on a car of a higher segment the Chevy cruze and the car also has the key-less entry feature. The interiors have some wacky designs as well right from the door handle to its panels. Ride quality of the car is good but could be better. Now its crunch time. Is the car a good buy? Well that would be a judgment call. The car in itself would be a decent purchase but you would face problems in the follow up after you actually bought the car. Nissan has a lack of showrooms and since the company hasn’t really sold many cars in the sub-continent service backup is dangerously weak and yes spare parts will be more expensive than cars like the i10 or the swift. So if you’re looking for a car that has a decent performance, good styling, handling, new refreshing look and of course good fuel economy the micra is a good buy. But you would have to be ready to go through a small amount of problems to have it serviced especially if you took the car to a town where only maruti Suzuki would have a service center. The car has been priced competitively at Rs.3, 98,000{ex-showroom Delhi} making it real value for money. A well-engineered car that Nissan has made in recognition of the new Indian car buyer’s market the micra has a long way to go before it can challenge the swift or the i10 but if Nissan markets this car well enough it may well be on its way to making sales records since the car’s design shows that the brand is trying to start a trend of its own.