Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Japanese auto major Nissan Motor Company, has launched an automatic variant of its Sunny mid-size sedan in the domestic passenger car market. The automatic Sunny comes fitted with the cutting edge Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) system that the company calls X-Tronic CVT. This gearbox was also introduced in the Renault Scala sedan earlier this year, which happens to be a badge engineered twin sister of Nissan Sunny. The newly launched Sunny CVT is offered to domestic car buyers with a price tag of Rs. 8.90 lakh (in the ex-showrooms of New Delhi).
The Sunny mid-size sedan along with the Micra premium hatchback, feature among Nissan Motor India’s top selling products in the domestic car market. The launch of automatic Sunny model was long due, since many enticing automatic transmission models are present in the mid-size sedan segment of the country. At present, Nissan Sunny competes against the likes of Honda City, Hyundai Verna Fluidic, Maruti Suzuki SX4, Renault Scala, Ford Fiesta and Skoda Rapid.
Interestingly, in order to keep the pricing competitive, the Nissan Sunny CVT is available in only the mid-spec XL trim. The stylish mid-size sedan comes fitted with the same 1.5 litre petrol engine, which churns out a peak power output of 99.6 bhp. It must be noted that this automatic version produces more power than its manual sibling that manages a top power rating of 97 bhp. Nissan Motor has claimed that its Sunny CVT delivers an ARAI-tested mileage figure of 17.97 kmpl, which is arguably best in its class at the moment. The Sunny CVT’s fuel economy is just a shade better than the Ford Fiesta automatic that comes rated with a mileage figure of 16.97 kmpl.
Honda City and Hyundai Verna Fluidic are among the best selling models in the mid-size sedan segment of the Indian auto market. The Honda City S AT and Hyundai Verna EX AT carry retail price tags of Rs. 9.25 lakh and Rs. Rs. 8.9 lakh, respectively. Further, Nissan Sunny CVT’s other rivals Scala CVT RXL and Ford Fiesta AT Style are offered to domestic buyers at retail values Rs. 8.99 lakh and Rs. 10.01 lakh (all prices in the ex-showrooms of New Delhi). It would be interesting to see how well the new Sunny CVT fares against the competition in Indian auto market.
