It is raining compact SUVs in the automobile market. Every automaker wants to have their bit of sales in the market and so does Nissan. The Nissan Magnite might be just another compact SUV for us but that’s not the same for Nissan.
Nissan is betting high on the Magnite as it may be the last chance for them in the Indian market. However, it seems that Nissan has got it spot-on this time with the Magnite. Although Nissan had high hopes with the Kicks (so did we), but somehow it failed to make kick the sales in the Indian consumer market. Let’s see if Nissan can crack open the market this time.
For now, let’s check out what the Nissan Magnite has in stock for us.
Pardon me but the Magnite looks like the wildest one among its rivals. It just looks strikingly amazing. The very first thing you notice when you look at the Magnite is the large grille and that clearly resembles the Datsun group of cars. Well, that’s largely because the Magnite was originally a product for the Datsun portfolio.
The slender-looking headlights with lightsaber styled turn-indicators just fairs well with the L shaped DRL’s placed below at the lower half. At the lower end is the fog lamps are placed which are once again LED. From the front, the Magnite just looks the best in the segment.
Move over to the side and the chunky elements found in a Nissan family is prominent, all thanks to the chunky and heavily flared wheel arches and the stellar looking diamond cut alloys. The A-B-C pillars are blacked out to give that floating roof effect with chrome door handles. Why not it makes things look appealing for some.
Let’s have a walk to the rear profile and you will like that stance. The Magnite appears to have a hunched back design and the tail lamps just fit perfectly with the overall design of the vehicle.
Walk into the compact SUV and get greeted by a jet back-grey cabin combo with some silver accents in the dashboard and steering wheel. The design is a mix of the Nissan – Renault – Datsun family with chunky elements and funky designs.
A look at the instrument cluster and you will feel it’s straight out of some Japanese game console. Although they appear to be pretty legible and looks funky.
Move your eyes down to the AC control and you will be surprised to see knurled knobs with a display built-in. That’s just fantastic. Talking of the AC controls, the hexagonal designed AC vent looks amazing with the design of the vehicle. It is surely been thrown towards the young souls.
Oh! Did I forget to mention about Push-button start? Yes, it gets push buttons too. The IRVM is however manually operated while some of the rivals do provide auto-dimming IRVM’s
Move over to the rear of the car and you will be surprised how well everything inside has been placed. The Magnite is not just spacious but also gets AC vents in the rear for the passenger’s comfort. Now, that’s amazing. In terms of practicality, the doors are capable enough to hold in a 1.0-liter bottle and a 10-liter glove box for storing more.
Loading luggage? Worry not the Magnite is spacious enough for 336-litre boot space. Not enough? Fold the rear seat in 60-40 ratio. Still not happy? You get functional roof rails which can carry a load of upto 50 Kg (we don’t recommend loading luggage on the roof rails and it can hamper the driving dynamics of the vehicle adding to risk factors).
Nissan looks like they have gone all guns blazing with the Magnite. The range-topper packs in Climate control, touch screen infotainment setup with “wireless” Android Auto/ Apple CarPlay. Steering mounted audio control, cruise control and the meaty 360-degree parking camera. Wireless charging pad, air purifier, puddle lamp, ambient lighting and whatnot. Dayum. Period.
The Magnite is based on the same platform which houses in the Triber too. It packs in all the standard safety equipment which is mandated by the Government of India regarding road safety of vehicles.
The Magnite gets a 1.0-litre HRA0 turbo petrol engine which goes up with a Manual or a CVT setup which pumps out 95hp. The other option being a 1.0-litre three-pot NA with a five-speed manual setup.
For the Diesel heads, it’s sad news. The Magnite doesn’t get a diesel powermil.
Nissan has finally revealed the Magnite pricing and it looks very sweet!
The base XE Trim starts at 4.99 Lakhs (ex-showroom) for the 1.0-liter Naturally Aspirated Petrol.
These are just introductory pricing available till 31st December, post that the base XE Trim will cost 5.44 Lakhs.
Let’s look at the detailed price chart –
The 1.0-liter Turbo Petrol starts from the XL Trim and costs 6.99 Lakhs, whereas the top-end Turbo Petrol CVT costs 9.35Lakhs, which in our humble opinion is a wee-bit high, but still better than the rivals.
The rad looking Magnite will lock horns against the likes of Kia Sonet (wild? nah), Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, Ford EcoSport, the Honda WR-V, the upcoming French cousin of Magnite, i.e. the Renault Kiger and the Ram-Shyam twins, Maruti Suzuki Urban Cruiser and the Toyota Vitara Brezza (eh, or is it the other way around? Doesn’t matter!)
Will the Magnite be able to take on the likes of such rivals who have such a good grip on the market?
Nissan Magnite is the supposed last mayday call of the sinking ship of Nissan India, so do you think the mayday call will be answered? Let us know!
Planning to buy an EV? Head to our dedicated EV website, Zevify
Written by – Gaurav Chakraborty
Compiled by – Tirth Pandya
