Nissan has been making sincere efforts to help its latest premium sedan Nissan Sylphy get all the attention its deserves. It is an ambitious project for the car maker and therefore it is leaving any stone unturned. The car is known as Nissan Sentra in the North American market and does well and the 2013 iteration is expected to perform even better.
Now Nissan always had plans of exploring new markets and possibilities for the Sylphy and is planning to launch the car in as many as 120 countries. The car maker seems to be very confident about this premium sedan and is expecting to sell nearly 5 lakh (half a million) units of Sylphy globally by the year 2014.
So Nissan is all set to make the Sylphy a global product but will India be on the list of 120 countries which the car would be introduced to? Well hopefully yes as there is a considerable gap between the Nissan Sunny and Nissan Teana in India and this car could fill the gap.
Considering the expected pricing of the car which would be between Rs.10 lakhs and Rs.15 lakhs for the Chinese market and between Rs.13 lakhs and Rs.17 lakhs for the Thai market, we may see Nissan introducing this car into the D-segment to compete with existing cars like Toyota Corolla Altis , Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Laura,Chevrolet Cruze, and Renault Fluence.
The older version was not appealing enough, but the 2013 iteration is surely attractive. The front resembles the Sunny and especially the chrome grille looks very elegant. Headlamps are a little like Honda Accord’s headlamp cluster from the front and feature LED strips. There is a well pronounced shoulder line which starts from the front wheel arch and ends at the tail lamp and it surely looks fabulous. At the rear you have bulging tail lamps and a very clean design overall.
One of the strong points of the Sylphy is its wheelbase which measures 2700 mm. It is one of the longest wheelbases in the entry level D-segment and we are sure, alike Sunny, the Sylphy will also offer massive amount of space.
Under the hood it will feature 1.8 litre petrol engine with VVT technology, which can develop a max power output of 130 BHP and 174 Nm of peak torque. Along with this unit, a 1.6 litre 116 BHP petrol engine will also be available for Thailand. If it comes to India in the near future, we expect it to equip the 1.5 litre K9K diesel engine that does duty on Fluence.
The car is complete in all senses and Nissan has the capability to make it a hit, so we really hope it comes to India. We also reported earlier than Nissan may bring Sylphy to India in 2014, but it still seems a distant plan, we hope it will make it to Indian roads. We will keep an eye on the developments and will keep you posted, stay tuned to Car Blog India for more updates.
