Nissan India’s premium SUV, Murano is all set for launch in next year, at least in the first half, in contrast to the scheduled launch this year. The car will be a completely built import from Japan. The cost will be in the range of Rs35lakh – Rs40 lakh and to be in stiff fight against Toyota Prado, BMW X3, Mitsubhisi Montero and Mercedes Benz M-class. The launch will be preceded by a survey about the prospects for this SUV as it is in the US since 2002, as a counter to Pathfinder.
Nissan is in plans to roll out three versions of Murano – the base S, the midgrade SL, and the top of the line LE. There will be all wheel drive and the vehicle will have a 3.5 lit petrol V6 engine, aluminium interior accents, leather seats, rain sensing wipers , memory seats and mood lighting. There will be a 11-speaker Bose unit with a 9.3 GB hard disk storage device. Nissan has proposal to introduce compact cars and such hatchbacks will be made in five countries including China, India and Thailand.
After this, there will be a sedan in 2011 and a compact multi-purpose vehicle. In India, Nissan will make its small cars in its tie-up with Renault and in the unit in Chennai. The company is eyeing in sourcing 80-90 local sourcing for the parts. In India, the small car will be manufactured at the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai.
Nissan’s engineers say they are trying to source 80-90 per cent of the parts locally.