Nissan Magnite - Bright and Bold
After tasting both success and failures in the Indian market, Nissan has realized the true game plan to survive the competition. This new strategy involves cars that appeal the major audience at cut throat competitive prices no matter if that low price tag could result in sacrifice of quality. Following this plan, the Japanese brand Nissan during late 2020, introduced the Magnite which is more of a mix between crossover and SUV. The name Magnite is a combination of Magnetic and Ignite, this feels very juvenile but massive audience can connect with it. The Nissan Magnite is available in a total of 8 color choices, 4 standard colors and 4 dual tone scheme. 5 primary variants XE, XL, XV, XV Premium and the newly launched XV Executive which in the price list falls below the XV Premium. Combining the primary variants with engine options, transmission choices and Dual tone paint scheme there are a total of 24 variants to choose from with the price starting from ₹5.76lakhs for the base XE variant and it goes to ₹9.98lakhs ex-showroom Delhi for the top variant XV Premium Turbo CVT. This is the new price as Nissan hiked up the price for both Magnite and Kicks by approximately ₹25,000/- due to supply shortage in the automobile industry.
Engine and Technology
Nissan offers 2 petrol engine options, first is the B4D 1L Naturally Aspirated 3-cylinder engine which produces 71bhp and 96nm torque with a 5-speed manual gearbox only, the second engine is more powerful HRA0 1L 3-cylinder Turbo which produces 98bhp and 152nm of torque with a choice of both 5-speed manual gearbox or a CVT transmission. This 1L Turbo petrol engine is debuting in the Magnite but will be seen in future Nissan cars as well. Buyers in the early days of Magnite’s life complained about the steering response and Nissan fixed it in the new XE Executive variant and upgraded other variants, but still there are issues on handling and cabin noise. The ARAI claimed mileage is of 17.7km/l for the petrol variant but the numbers go even further down in city as compared to highway.
Design
The design elements mimic a lot from Datsun cars which is understandable as the Magnite was supposed to be a part of the Datsun lineup but later shifted under Nissan’s name. These design elements which look familiar include sharp cuts on the front, boomerang shaped LED DRLs, aggressive looking headlights and a lot of chrome used as part of the grill and turn indicators. 4m long, 1.76m wide and 1.57m high makes the Magnite a proper sub 4-meter SUV, it has a wheelbase of 2.5m which makes good knee room but the rear seat is best for 2 only for long trips, ground clearance of 205mm makes it easy to cross bad terrains which is a big factor to consider when buying a car in India. The roof gets functional roof rails which can hold up to 50kgs and a secondary color option to make the overall exterior even more sporty and funky. The back of the car has been dominated by enormous Magnite badging on the sculpted door and rear viper which comes standard in all variants. Black cladding on the sides to protect the metal body from dust and easy scratches. 16-inch alloy wheels fits the overall dimensions but Nissan offers a 15-inch tyre in Orange color.
Upon entering inside the car, one is greeted with spacious cabin and a dual tone interior with good fit and finish of hard touch plastics over the dashboard. The one thing that immediately catches your eye on the dashboard are the hexagonal shaped AC vents. The doors are small so digress and ingress to the 2nd row seats is a difficult task but once you enter you can enjoy the legroom and headroom. Nissan has kept the interior somewhat simple but there sure are weird design quirks that confuses the driver, these design quirks include door lock and unlock button placed just below the touchscreen infotainment system, this is something found in entry level hatchbacks that do not place these buttons on the driver side door to save same cost. Another design quirk is the Engine Start/Stop button placed on the center console just below the AC controls, this is very peculiar as this button should be placed near the steering so that the driver is not searching for how to start the car in case of any emergency. There were a lot of complaints about panel gaps in the earlier variants but in the updated version launched in late 2021 all of these issues were resolved.
Features
Nissan plans to attract a lot of young audience for the Magnite and so they have made it the most tech advanced car in its segment. In a sub 4-meter SUV with the top model that goes to approximately ₹10 lakhs, we get full LED headlights, taillights, fog lights and the DRLs, automatic climate control, 8-inch infotainment system which supports wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay, JBL speakers for melodious acoustics, ambient lighting and Keyless entry and go. Adding to this list is Cruise Control, power folding wing mirrors and 7-inch fully digital instrument display which has cool graphics and animations but not very easy to read. In the updated versions, Nissan included a Tech Pack worth ₹39,000/- which includes a wireless phone charger, puddle lamps and an air purifier. Despite this long list of features, it would have been even better if Nissan could also include a sunroof, customers who plan a top variant of any car start their research which sunroof and its absence from the Magnite brings a lot of questions.
Safety
Coming to the safety of the Magnite, let us start with the rating the car received. It scored 4 star in the ASEAN NCAP which is decent enough, although the competition Tata Punch has scored 5 star in Global NCAP which blows Magnite's ratings out of proportions. Even the Renault Kiger has recently scored 4-star in the Global NCAP. Apart from the standard features like Dual Airbags, ISOFIX child sear mounts, Rear Parking Sensors, Electronic Stability Control and ABS, we do get some high end features like Tyre pressure monitor, Traction Control, Hill Start Assist and 360-degree camera but on the downside the camera resolution is not up to the mark. The overall build quality, just like other Japanese and Korean cars is not that good too. A lightweight body makes the car speed faster but it's risky for the occupants in some unforeseen accident.
Verdict
The Nissan Magnite offers a tech loaded, aggressively designed urban SUV-Crossover for the young drivers at highly competitive prices. One can witness this success for Nissan as the company sold 30,000 units by the end of 2021. Yes, there were issues like bad steering response system earlier but most of them have been resolved in the new updated version, there still is scope for better handling but it sure is improved from the earlier versions. In January 2022, Nissan increased the prices for the Magnite due to high demand of the car and lower supply of the semi-conductors, so now the price difference between a base variant of Kiger and Magnite is just ₹3000. From a long list of variants, I would recommend XV Premium Turbo Manual to the buyers so as one should get a better engine in terms of turbo and the manual gearbox is better than Nissan's automatic gearbox.