Guess the 200hp 4WD 5dr hatchback, 65mpg, £18k brand new

[KarlMac]

samoht said:

Thoughts welcome on why Nissan UK will only offer you a 92hp Micra for your £18k, and no-one else has followed this apparently rather appealing route.

1. I’d guess if the platform is popular we’ll see it with a Renault badge in Europe, similar to the Zoe/Leaf.

2. For the last 40 years the Japanese model has got all the best cars. This is nothing new.

[TWPC]

Dynion Araf Uchaf said:

the Nissan Note and Aura remain JDM or Asia Pacific only due to continued meddlesome Renault bks.

As you may remember the old Note was a reasonable seller in the UK, loved by the elderly for its auto box and practicality, it was also relatively cheap. Then the new Micra came along based on the Clio floor plan, and that had to be build at the Flijn factory in France due to it being under utilised and facing closure ( Renault management don't like making people redundant because it usually ends up with the CEO being shot). Also French govt intervention strong armed a slightly rudderless and distant Japanese Management into having the car built there. The only (very slight) problem was in fact two problems, it was very expensive to produce ( the car cost more out of the factory than the Qashqai did out of Sunderland 16k OOG v 11k OOG)) and the workforce was largely immigrant and due to some odd French law they had to be replaced every 6 months. This led to significant product quality issues ( eg reliability) as just as the work force got competent at building the car, they were sacked. All good so far.

So in order to offset this potentially terminal issue for the Micra, Nissan Japan decided that the Note should be discontinued in the UK and Europe. The thinking being that all those old Note drivers would just buy the Micra ( in fact they all bought Honda Jazzes). The Micra also sold at a loss in Europe, in some part due to the cost of production. And that has led in part to Nissan's decreasing vehicle range in the UK ( that and emissions issues).

So we don't get the Note/Aura or the mild hybrid. Although as another posted stated this is coming in the Qashqai and Juke. Essentially it extends the range of the fuel tank by about 40 %. Close to 1000 miles out of 40 litres isn't bad at all.

It is a funky car that would do well here, especially in London and other Climate Nazi cities but it's not going to happen. Believe me when I tell you that the question has been asked.

Nissan's will be rebadged Renaults in future - let's see how that goes.

As for Nismo Aura. Even though you can import the standard Aura ( and I'd love to just for uniqueness) the Nismo can't be imported due to Type approval issues with the DVLA ( post production modified) YOU can get around it by getting the relevant TDN, but as yet no one has worked out how to present that to the DVLA as it needs to be on the C of C, which Nissan ( uniquely) won't provide.

I am worried about the future of Nissan ( and other Jap manufacturers in the EU). They can't seem to make any money.

Thanks for that, Dynion. Very interesting.
I agree with your concern about the Japanese companies' future presence in Europe (except, probably, Toyota): their returns here have been awful for many years compared to the US - presumably they compete because they view it as, in some respects, the toughest market in the world and if a model does well here it has properly proved itself.

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

TWPC said:

Thanks for that, Dynion. Very interesting.
I agree with your concern about the Japanese companies' future presence in Europe (except, probably, Toyota): their returns here have been awful for many years compared to the US - presumably they compete because they view it as, in some respects, the toughest market in the world and if a model does well here it has properly proved itself.

they compete as they've have been successful here in the past and are probably still chasing past glories. Some of the markets do make money - eg UK, but some bomb abysmally. Parts and Accessories is where the money is at. Exchange rate doesn't help, and some of the volumes for sporty stuff, or commercials makes ongoing development tricky cost wise.

In many respect the Koreans have taken over the Japanese with a level of confidence the Japanese no longer have, and a strategy and futurescope, that they can only dream of. Japan has been sat on its arse for too long with regard to the EU, much to the Koreans glee.

[samoht]

Dynion Araf Uchaf said:

... continued meddlesome Renault bks...

thanks, super interesting. As you say, nonsense that they chain themselves to the uncompetitive Micra and hold off the genuinely interesting and relevant Note ePower.

I recently enjoyed David Twohig's book, Inside the Machine, which was an interesting account of how the Qashqai came to be - sounds like it really hit the spot commercially, combined with the super-efficient Gateshead plant.