The Nissan Magnite Now Has An India Unveil Date

The Nissan Magnite will go up against the likes of the Kia Sonet and Hyundai Venue

Update (02/12/2020): Nissan has launched the Magnite with prices beginning from Rs 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Read more about it here.

• Likely to be a petrol-only offering with two 1.0-litre petrol engine options: naturally aspirated and turbocharged.

• A CVT option likely to be available with the more powerful turbo-petrol offering.

• Will get features like a segment-first 360 degree camera, an 8-inch touchscreen, connected tech and digital instrument cluster .

• We expect prices to start around Rs 6 lakh with the launch later this year.

• Reveal on 21 October.

Nissan’s upcoming sub-4 metre SUV, the Magnite, now has a reveal date attached to it, with the Japanese carmaker choosing to lift the covers off the production-spec Magnite on 21 October. The unveil, like every other that has taken place during this ongoing pandemic, will be a virtual affair. It shares its underpinnings with the Renault Triber as well as Renault’s equivalent of the Magnite, which is likely to be called Kiger. 

Nissan has also revealed partly camo-covered pictures of the Magnite that resemble the Magnite concept quite closely. The front-end of the car continues to feature a large grille. The test mule that Nissan teased looks like it is sporting halogen headlamps, making us question if the production-spec car will be getting LED headlights or not. Apart from that, the car looks quite like the one spied in India. You can read more about that here.

While Nissan hasn’t given out any information on the Magnite’s powertrain, it is a well educated guess that the sub-4 metre SUV will make use of two petrol engines. The first is the 1.0-litre naturally aspirated motor from the Renault Triber, in which it makes 72PS. The other will be a turbo-petrol motor of the same capacity, expected to dish out close to 100PS. Nissan is expected to offer a CVT option with the latter for those looking to opt for a two-pedal configuration.

Another area of the Magnite that still continues to be under wraps is the interior. And if the Magnite concept is anything to go by, then we have high expectations. An 8-inch touchscreen, cruise control, a 360 degree camera, a fully digital instrument cluster and connected car tech will be some of the premium features on offer.

Nissan is expected to price the base variant of the Magnite around Rs 6 lakh with a market launch by the end of the year. While we can’t comment on the top-end variants’ prices at the moment, the Magnite could end up being the least expensive entry into the sub-4 metre SUV segment. In that segment, it will be rivalling the Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and Mahindra XUV300.