2014 Nissan March (aka Micra in some markets) revealed in a video

A video of the improved and slightly redesigned Nissan March (Micra in Europe and Japan) appeared on Youtube. The video, which seems to be a television commercial from Thailand, now shows the facelifted small city car. Meanwhile, Nissan's Thai page also revealed the new Nissan March.

Changes include new bumpers, front grille and new LED taillights. Inside the new March will get a new center console that looks a lot better and resembles the European version (Micra). For now we don't know if this facelift well get to the Nissan Micra, but i hope it does because the current version is really ugly.

The engine available with the new Nissan March is a three cylinder DOHC 1.2 liter unit with 79hp @6000rpm and 106Nm @4400rpm. Together with this engine you can choose between a five-speed manual gearbox or the XTRONIC CVT automatic transmission.

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Nissan introduces the European Note. Will be at the Geneva Motor Show [Video]

The Nissan Note is already known from the Japanese and is basically the production version of the Invitation concept shown last year at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. And in this year edition of the Geneva Motor Show we will see the European version of the Note.

Since the European market is more demanding, the new Nissan Note comes with several systems engineered and developed at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) in both the UK and Spain and production gearing up at Nissan Manufacturing UK (NMUK) in Sunderland.

One of those system is the Nissan Safety Shield pack which comprises the Blind Spot Warning, Lane Departure Warning, and Moving Object Detection, working together with the Around View Monitor, a system that uses four cameras to display an image in the 5.8-inch dashboard mounted screen to help park the car.

Nissan offers three engine choices. Two three-cylinder 12-valve 1.2 liter petrol units with 80hp at 6000rpm and 110Nm at 4000rpm (4.7l/100km, CO2 emissions of 109g/km) or 98hp at 5600 rpm and 142Nm of torque at 4400 rpm (4.3l/100km, CO2 emissions of 99g/km for the manual gearbox, 119g/km with CVT transmission). Seeing those numbers i can't understand why someone would choose the weaker engine.

The third available engine is a four-cylinder 1.5-litre turbo diesel that produces 90hp and emits just 95g/km of CO2 with a fuel consumption of 3.6l/100km. Top speed and acceleration will be revealed close to launch., which is scheduled for autumn 2013.

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Nissan Deltawing will lose the Nissan part

You've probably heard of the DeltaWing which used a Nissan engine but now it seems Nissan left the project. Why? Nobody knows. What we do know is that the Deltawing will have a new 1.9liter Mazda engine replacing the Nissan 1.6liter prepared by RML.

Besides the new engine, which is more powerful (now has 345hp) and lighter (the engine has less 6.8kg or 15lbs), they also have plans to use a closed cockpit. And what did Nissan had to say about this less than a year after they joined the Deltawing project? They used twitter to confirm it.

"yes folks, it's true. We had a blast with DeltaWing and will always have a major soft spot for that car." "Nissan wishes Dr Don Panoz and all the other partners involved in the DeltaWing all the best for the future."

Not cool Nissan.

Source: topgear

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Nissan will build a new C-Segment car in Barcelona, Spain.

In total Nissan will invest 110 million euros, almost 150 million dollars, in their factory located in Barcelona, Spain, so they can start building a new passenger car from July 2014. The vehicle is rumored to be a new C-Segment car, possibly with some styling cues taken from the Nissan Invitation concept shown almost a year ago (In reality this concept gave birth to the Nissan Note).

This investment will allow for an additional 80,000 units of annual capacity to Barcelona, and the creation of 1,000 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. Really good in a country getting close to an unemployment rate of 30%.

But this isn't the only investment at the Barcelona plant. Nissan will invest 14 million euros (19 million dollars) to increase the annual production capacity by 24.000 units of the 1-Ton Pickup, and 6 million euros (8.15 million dollars) for the assembly of the gearbox for the Nissan LEAF and Nissan eNV200.

Of course Frank Torres, Nissan Motor Ibérica Managing Director, was really happy with this investment by say that: "I have the pleasure of sharing with you the fruits of the competitiveness agreement reached last week, which have opened the door to new production opportunities. The most important thing now is to be able to ensure the successful launch of these products and keep the competitiveness commitment. If we do, I am sure new opportunities will come."

Adding that "In the coming years, Barcelona plant will work at full capacity, with an annual output over 200,000 units while maintaining its attractiveness to produce new models. Given the current crisis environment, this is not only a great achievement for Nissan, but for the entire industry in this country."

Source: Nissan

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Nissan reveals the 370Z Nismo for the European market

Nissan surprised everyone by showing the Nismo version of the 370Z during the official presentation of the European Juke Nismo that took place in Barcelona. The new 370Z will be sold starting from July.

The new version includes several changes to the look of the car, and includes a new rear diffuser, 19 inch wheels, improved brakes side skirts, a front spoiler and the suspension was lowered by 10mm. On the inside we have black alcantara with a red trim.

The 3.7liter V6 engine now produces 344hp and 371Nm and will do the 0 to 100km/h (62mph) run in 5.2 seconds. The top speed was not revealed but it should be limited to 250km/h (155mph).

Source: autoportal

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Spain will get another major investment from a carmaker

The German company Volkswagen said last week it would invest around 785 million euros ($1 billion) in a plant in northern Spain over the next five years, making it the third company in recent months that announced a major investment in that country with severe economy problems.

First it was Ford that said they were going to move production from their Belgium factory to Spain, then Renault announced it was hiring 1.300 new people, but just last week Nissan canceled the plans to expand production of a new model in Spain because they didn't reach an agreement with union workers adding that Spain was losing 4.000 jobs and an investment of 130 million euros.

The Volkswagen plant is in Pamplona in the region of Navarra, can produce up to 1.400 vehicles every day and provides work for 4.600 people, so this was good news for the struggling country. But the Spanish government boasted that these investments happen because "they are the result of a labour market reform that makes the country more competitive for businesses and also makes it cheaper for companies to hire and fire employees.".

I am not sure if its a good thing to make it cheaper to fire people but it seems that's what the companies want.

Source: reuters

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Nissan confirms Nismo version of the Leaf

Shoichi Miyatani, President of Nissan Motorsport International Limited (Nismo) said to Autocar that the Leaf Nismo, which was recently introduced at the Tokyo Auto Salon, will enter production in Japan this summer, and depending on how it performs it may also be sold in Europe and/or in the United States of America.

While this version doesn't have any mechanical upgrades, meaning the power is the same over the regular version, with 107hp (80kW), 280Nm (210ft/lb), a top speed of 145km/h (90mph) and a range of 175km (108miles), it includes several aesthetic improvements, like the aerodynamic body kit taken from the Leaf RC concept, new alloy wheels and a lightly redesigned interior.

Miyatani also said that the Leaf RC "race car", which was introduced at the New York Motor Show in 2011 for a one-make race series, won't really happen after all.

Source: autocar

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2014 Nissan X-Trail 3 revealed in patent drawings

My Chinese isn't that good but it seems (and it surely looks) like the Hi-Cross concept will serve as a base for the next-generation X-Trail that could be introduced at the Geneva Motor Show next March.

Nissan hopes to attract a younger audience, thanks to the futuristic look of the concept and the production model that you can see in the images of the industrial patents below.

And from what we can see the look is very similar to the concept, except for the functional stuff like lights and bumpers.

Source: auto.sohu

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Nissan Resonance Concept. Preview of the future Murano III

Nissan took advantage of the Detroit Auto Show to reveal the future direction of Nissan crossovers, but I suspect that will only serve to show the lines of the Murano III.

This new concept has a hybrid electric drivetrain driving all four wheels. The system combines a smaller displacement internal combustion gasoline engine with an electric motor/lithium-ion battery and an advanced management system, together with the new Xtronic Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).

The design is innovative, in particular the profile. Francois Bancon, Nissan Motor Co. division general manager, Product Strategy and Planning, added: "When the designers were first working on conceptualizing the Nissan Resonance, they were inspired by amazing scientific advancements in technology and material innovations. They also were inspired by the aspirations of those people who unabashedly embrace innovation and are optimistic about the future. It was about serving those people a concept vehicle that is forward-looking and fuses style with an athletic ride."

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Short News: Nissan confirms next generation Murano concept for Detroit [Video]

Nissan will preview the next generation Nissan Murano at the Detroit Auto Show starting next week, and promisses a design that will be as surprising as the original.

The design is expected to be based on the Nissan Terra concept shown in the 2012 Paris motor show, but sales of the production version won't start until 2014.

Source: autocar

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