The baby Nissan Micra is looking good for a second bid for success in Australia.
The tiny tot was too compact and too costly for local buyers in the 1990s. But Nissan Australia believes it could now surf the rising tide of light car sales. The breakthrough on the Micra front is production and price, as Nissan is now building the car in Japan.
Until now, Micra was only built in Britain and exchange rates meant it would have had a totally uncompetitive pricetag in the $18,000 range. "Sourcing from Japan is now possible. So we might be able to get the car from there for Australia," Nissan Australia spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher says.
"It makes sense to have another look at the Micra. It is something that has come and gone many times over the past few years, when our major issue has been the right price and specification."
A new Micra was recently spotted in Sydney and Fletcher says cars have been brought to Australia for assessment, although she will not confirm anything as detailed as customer research clinics.
Still, Nissan is having trouble getting the all-new Tiida accepted as the replacement for the long-running Pulsar and the Micra would give it a second contender.
The Micra move comes despite the original failure of the car, when it and the Toyota Starlet were tried but failed to win enough friends down under. Both cars were smaller than the Corolla and Pulsar sold at the time, but Fletcher says the problem was pricing.
"It was an issue, sourcing the vehicle from Europe," she says. "We were at the top end of the price. We learned a lot about that segment from that."
Since then the Micra has been totally overhauled, with a bigger and funkier body. It also comes with both 1.2- and 1.4-litre engines.
In Europe there is also a metal-roofed convertible model, the Micra C+C, which was designed and developed to compete with the Peugeot 206. But the Micra still sits in the "light" class, which would put it up against rivals including the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris and the latest Korean-made Holden Barinas.
"It's been a very popular vehicle in Europe with a lot of success," Fletcher says.
"Given the growth in the light car segment, it would be very timely if we could offer it for sale here in Australia. It has been an outstanding success in Europe."
Japanese production began last year and that was when Nissan Australia decided to have a close, fresh look.
But there is still no solid plan, and details including a potential price and a start date for deliveries are a long way from settled.
"I wouldn't think it would be possible to get it this year, even if it is available," she says.
"We're negotiating to see if the business plan can work. If we can get the vehicle at the right price with the right equipment.
"That segment is very tough and it is very interesting and mixed. It would have to be within that segment somewhere, but exact pricing would depend on the specification."
Why are they hesitating? It's so damn frustrating and ridiculous, the pricing clause...we all know you get what you pay for, if you want a crappy hyundai, you'll pay $14,000, and you'll be upgrading within 5 years. If they can put the quality into this new model, like they did with the K11, people won't be worried about paying an extra $2000-3000 for it. Interest rates are low. Man, it's so frustrating to read stuff like this.
Nissan need to make sure this is going to work out for them. But yeah I totally agree with you micragirl - its very frustrating and amusing heh.
