Nissan: Reigning UAE terrains

Our Correspondent / Emirates Business

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. became the first Japanese car manufacturer to establish a regional Middle East headquarters in June 1994. Nissan’s relationship with the Middle East goes back to 1957 when the first Nissan vehicles were delivered to Saudi Arabia. Nissan has since grown into one of the most recognised automotive brands in the Middle East.
Samir Cherfan, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East, told Emirates Business, “Earlier in May 2015, we announced our financial results for our 2014 fiscal year (April 1 to March 31), which demonstrated that in the UAE, Nissan maintained its strong number 2 position in the sales charts, selling 63,036 units — up by 10 percent versus 2013 and achieving 15.3 percent market share. Nissan’s purchase consideration in the UAE has also increased by 46 percent in the past two years, closing the gap with the market leader.”
From its pioneering crossover vehicles and class-leading small cars to the legendary Nissan GT-R and all-conquering SUVs such as the ‘Hero of All Terrain in Life’, the Nissan Patrol – Nissan Middle East’s vehicle line-up is one of the broadest and most popular in the region, covering almost every segment of the automotive market. Nissan is expanding its presence all over the world and Middle East is treated as their strategic growth driver. The company’s ambitious mid-term plan is to increase regional sales by 100K units in the upcoming 3 years, and increase the market share from to 15 percent by end of 2016. Nissan 370Z Drift Experience.
Nissan Middle East has a diversified line-up of products ranging from SUVs to Sedans to LCVs

SUVs AND Crossovers
X-Tail: Muscular, modern and packed with technology, the new Nissan X-Trail re-defines the compact SUV segment by building upon Nissan’s respected 4×4 heritage and benefiting from the company’s crossover leadership.
X-Terra: SUV is for serious adventurers. All X-Terra models feature an advanced 4.0-litre straight-six engine, rated at 261 horsepower, along with Nissan’s rugged ‘F-Alpha’ ladder frame platform for adventure-ready action.
Armada: Continues to stand out in the full-size SUV segment. The 2014 Armada model has a standard 5.6-litre Endurance V8 engine rated at 320 horsepower and 54.3kg/m of torque, along with an advanced five-speed automatic transmission. Armada can tow up to 4,000 pounds when suitably.
Juke: Blends the finest qualities of a sports car, including a sporty driving position, dynamic handling and powerful turbo engine, with the best aspects of an SUV including as a robust lower body, raised ground height, improved visibility, confident stance and available all-wheel drive.
“The Nissan Juke, over the past year, has forged ahead with highly impressive sales results. The vehicle now has a six per cent share of the SUV-S market segment — jumping from five per cent a year ago. In the UAE, the Juke’s share has jumped from eight to 11 per cent and, in March 2015, it was the best-selling car in its segment in the entire country. It’s a success story repeated throughout the region and, as Nissan Middle East looks forward to 2016, it does so from a position of enormous strength through ‘Innovation that Excites’,” said Cherfan.

Sedans
Sunny: The original Sunny was launched in the Middle East under Datsun brand in 1966 and is part of the Nissan and the Regional Automotive Heritage across its ten generations. Sunny is one of the top selling models in the region. The 2015 Sunny builds on this solid foundation and strengthens Nissan’s presence in the increasingly popular B-Sedan segment.
Altima: The Altima is modern and charismatic vehicle over delivering on the fundamentals earned over four generations and two decades, for quality and reliability and class-above in innovation, fuel-efficiency, dynamic performance and premium style.
Tiida: Nissan Tiida hatchback, first introduced to the Middle East in 2005, continues to lead the C- hatchback segment with more than 35% market share. With dynamic styling looks and class-leading spaciousness, the second generation of the Middle East’s best-selling compact hatchback has everything to build on the Tiida nameplate’s established success.
Sentra: Launched at the beginning of 2013, the Nissan Sentra continues to make a powerful impression in the compact Sedan market. In 2015 the Sentra received a safety recognition award from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). Many of Sentra’s technologies have never been seen in cars of this class before, reflecting it’s aspirational and upscale compact sedan positioning. Sentra offers the spaciousness and comfort of cars usually found in the segment above. The Sentra is positioned to give an accessible premium experience, the Nissan Sentra appeals to the aspirational, smart and savvy compact sedan buyer.
GT-R: Multi-LED Headlights with Adaptive Front lighting System: Efficient, daylight-spectrum, multi-LED headlights create a distinctive “lightning” motif. But these four LED units do more than look the part. They adjust their illumination pattern based on vehicle speed, and cast a super-wide beam to enhance visibility, especially when cornering.

LCVs
All models are popular with the customers and have a long presence in the region. Nissan LCV models are strong competitors to Nissan.
NV350 Urvan: The NV350 Urvan falls under the Van segment and is positioned as being a value for money model. The key USPs of the vehicle include: improved driver convenience and passenger comfort, improved utilization of cargo area and refreshed styling with multiple body variations. The NV350 Urvan is mainly targeted towards SME’s, corporates and leasing companies.
Navara: Nissan Navara is a Medium Pickup positioned as a ‘Lifestyle Pickup’. The key USPs of the model (tough and rugged styling, exciting driving performance and comfortable and spacious interior) makes it best for its target audience which includes SME’s, oil companies and construction companies.
Pickup: Just like the Navara, the Pickup also falls under the Medium Pickup segment with the exact same target audience. However, the key USPs of the Pickup differs and these include: rugged go anywhere performance, flexibility to suit any business requirements and convenient features.
Civilian: The Civilian falls under the Bus segment and its passengers can often associate it as a ‘comfortable ride’. Leasing companies and government organizations are the main target of the Civilian. The key USPs of the model include: passenger comfort, options of conversion to suit customer requirements and attractive design.
Cherfan concluded by saying, “At Nissan we always work hard to ensure that we can bring the latest Nissan models to the region in a timely manner. We have the benefit of having such a wide and diverse line-up, which keeps our regional markets rich with multiple new launches each year. While we cannot communicate exactly what we plan to launch in 2016, we can assure our customers that we have some exciting plans.”