The launch of the Nissan Magnite has been delayed to January 2021
The Magnite was supposed to go be launched in India, this year in August, but the Coronavirus crisis has disrupted the launch.
Nissan has been having quite a tough year, and it all started going downhill for them after their (then) CEO Carlos Ghosn was arrested. Along with this, they have been running into massive losses, scant sales, and on top of it, Coronavirus hit the world, which further added to their troubles. Nissan needs a win, and they need it now, and us car journalists believed that the Nissan Magnite could be that one vehicle which can assure them a win, especially in the Indian market.
I wrote an article on ‘Nissan’s sub-compact SUV to be called the Magnite – Could this change Nissan’s fortune?‘ which gives a basic understanding of what the Magnite really is, and I really believe it could change things for the better. But unfortunately it seems that Nissan will have to wait more for their fortune to be turned, as the release of the compact suv has been postponed from August 2020 to January 2021.
The Magnite was supposed to be produced at the Nissan-Renault Alliance plant at Oragadam, Tamil Nadu, but the Coronavirus ordeal has forced them into delaying the launch of the Magnite for the sake of the Renault Kiger, the French automaker’s compact suv.
According to rumours, Nissan lost the production window, and the only way to make up for it would be by pushing it up and manufacturing it alongside the Kiger, thereby negatively impacting it. Renault is looking to have the Kiger ready for by October, the festive time in India, had the Magnite been produced along with it, Renault would have missed the launch window. Another reason for rescheduling the Magnite launch could be the ‘buyer-mood’. At the moment, due to how gloomy things are, customers aren’t particularly in a mood to purchase vehicles, and Nissan cannot afford to miss-time the launch, as this vehicle can literally save their sinking boat.
By the time Nissan does introduce the Magnite in the Indian markets, the Renault Kiger, Toyota Urban Cruiser and Kia Sonet should have been launched, giving Nissan a better overview of the sales situation in the compact urban suv segment. If Nissan does manage to price the Magnite around the 5 lakh mark (ex-showroom) it would surely make life difficult for its rivals, which are plenty, namely the Maruti Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Mahindra Xuv-300, Tata Nexon, Ford Ecosport, the upcoming Kiger, Urban Cruiser and Sonet included.
