Nissan to Show New Versa and a Motorsports Concept in New York, Infiniti to Announce New Addition to Range

One by one, automakers are revealing their plans for the upcoming 2011 New York International Auto Show. This time we have news from Nissan and its luxury division Infiniti. Starting with Nissan, the Japanese firm will debut a “new compact sedan” and a “new, zero emission motorsports concept”. While we have don’t have any information yet on the concept study, from what we know, the compact sedan will be the next generation of the Versa that was teased in an official sketch back in late 2010.

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Ford Sues Nissan Over Brazilian TV Ad that Ridicules the Focus for Being Overpriced [with Video]

Ford’s Brazilian arm has filed a criminal (!) lawsuit against the local division of Nissan for airing an aggressive TV commercial directed at the Focus sub-compact. To make a long story short, the parody-like ad points the finger at Ford for allegedly overpricing its Focus model.

The TV spot, which looks exactly like a rap video, shows two men dressed as Ford engineers living the big life with gold chains and rings, plenty of champagnes, and –the best part- an exotic assortment of sexy women in bikinis dancing around them. And oh, there’s also a silver Ford Focus on the background….

At the end, the commercial announces the price of Nissan’s Tiida sub-compact (sold as the Versa in the States), which in Brazil, costs around BR 3,000 or a little over US$1,800 less than Ford’s rivaling Focus.

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New Nissan Sunny Sedan Unveiled at China Auto Show. Is this the New 2012 Versa?

Taking center stage and making its world debut at the 8th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition, is Nissan's all-new global small sedan, which will be locally marketed as the Sunny. According to the Japanese automaker, the new small sedan will go on sale first in China in January 2011 and then progressively across 170 countries worldwide under different vehicle brand names.

Even though Nissan's Spartan press release did not mention the Versa, there are one too many styling similarities between the new Sunny and the 2012 Versa sedan teased in an official sketch released by the automaker in October 2010. However, we have to stress the fact that Nissan has not made a connection between the two cars.

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Nissan Teases Next-Generation Versa Sedan with Sketch

A sketchy teaser shot with a footnote that says "Nissan announced today that the next-generation Nissan Versa will be sold in the Americas" is about all we get from the Japanese automaker regarding its all-new subcompact sedan. There's a good chance we may see the 2012 Versa saloon getting its world premiere alongside the Murano CrossConvertible at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in November, though nothing has been confirmed yet. We'll keep you up to date with any new information we receive, but for the time being, hit the break for a larger version of the teaser shot.

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Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

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2011 Nissan Versa Sedan and Hatchback Models get Price Hikes

Nissan has announced U.S. pricing for its 2011 model year Versa sedan and hatchback models. While the MSRP (not including tax, title and license fees) for the entry-level Versa 1.6 sedan remains unchanged at $9,990, prices for the other models of the range have increased.

For example, the 2011 Versa 1.8S 6MT hatchback gets a $370 price increase and will start at $13,520, while the 1.6 4AT sedan receives a $250 price hike and will now start from $12,240.

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Nissan Planning to Sell a New Low-Cost, Micra-Based Model in the USA

Nissan officials confirmed today that the automaker is planning to add a new entry-level model based on the soon-to-be-revealed Micra in its U.S. market lineup. The next generation Micra (think Toyota Yaris and Ford Fiesta competitor), which was teased with a pair of renderings as well as a set of leaked design sketches, is based on Nissan's so-called "V-platform" that is said to give birth to two additional models aside from the hatchback, including a four-door sedan and a multipurpose vehicle.

"V platform" manager Vincent Cobee said that the Nissan's engineers spent four years to find ways to reduce production costs and weight out of a small car.

According to the company, the new platform will see a 50 percent improvement in fuel economy (we know, it sounds a bit too optimistic) over the current Micra while the firm's engineers have reduced the total number of parts in the car by 18 percent. For example, while the current Micra's cockpit has 56 parts, the new model will have 27.

According to Autonews that attended the press event at the Nissan's headquarters today, the U.S. market will play a significant role in the firm's plan to sell a million vehicles a year from all the derivatives of the newly created "V platform".

However, Nissan did not reveal which of the three models will come to the States nor when they go on sale or if the U.S.-market vehicle(s) will be produced in the States.

Nissan said that the new global Micra, which is set to make its debut next year, will be made in five different plants around the world, including India, China, Thailand and two other unidentified locations.

Via: Autonews

2011 Nissan Versa / Tiida Rendered, Gets New Turbo Engines

The Nissan Tiida, also known in the U.S. and Canada as the Versa, has been around in Japan since 2004. That is a long time in automobile-years so it comes to no surprise that Japanese magazines like “Best Car” have started publishing renderings of the Versa / Tiida’s replacement, expected in 2010. The artist’s rendering seen here, depicts a no-frills design proposal for the sedan variant that would also spawn a five-door hatchback version.

Best Car claims that, at least in what concerns the Japanese-market model, the 2010 Tiida / Verso will be offered with new range of turbocharged petrol engines. Since it is rumored that Nissan’s next-generation compact car will be based upon the Renault Megane architecture, the engine range could include Renault’s new 1.4-liter and 2.0-liter TCe turbocharged petrol units that deliver 130 and 180 HP respectively.

Expect to see the new Versa / Tiida hitting showrooms in the States and Europe sometime in 2011.

Rendering: Best Car

2009 Nissan Versa Sedan 1.6 Becomes Cheapest New Car in the USA

Priced from $9,990 (excluding a destination and handling fee of $695) the new Versa Sedan 1.6 is the cheapest vehicle on four wheels in the U.S. - or so Nissan claims. The newest addition in the Nissan Versa's range is powered by a smaller displacement 107HP 1.6-liter engine as opposed to the 122HP 1.8-liter unit found in the standard Versa Sedan and Hatchback models (pictured above) that are both priced from $12,990. The 1.6-liter engine is mated to a standard 5-speed manual gearbox and optionally, to a 4-speed automatic transmission. -Continued

According to the Japanese manufacturer, the Versa Sedan 1.6's fuel economy is rated at 26 mpg city/34 mpg highway with the 5-speed manual and 26 mpg city/33 mpg highway with the 4-speed automatic. Although Nissan has not given out any other details, the automaker stated that the Versa Sedan 1.6 will be offered with less basic features than the standard models. The Versa Sedan 1.6 goes on sale at Nissan dealers nationwide beginning November 18, 2008.

New Dodge Trazo: Nissan's Versa Sedan Gets Rebadged for South America

The new Dodge Trazesty Trazo is the fruit of Chrysler LLC and Nissan's OEM agreement that was signed in January 2008. Apparently we're not the only ones that think that there's nothing 'Dodge' about the Nissan Versa (Tiida in Europe and Japan) as the American automaker preferred to badge the sedan as the "Trazo by Dodge". As you can see in the image gallery after the jump, Dodge's signature ram logo is nowhere to be found. The Trazo will be offered for sale in select Latin American markets in sedan form only equipped with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline and E100 ethanol-capable engine with both automatic and manual transmissions. -Continued

Video: 2009 Nissan 370Z Test Drive

While Nissan is doing its best to keep the new 370Z under covers until the release of the first official pictures on October 29, the Japanese automaker did invite a few car magazines to give them a taste of their new sports coupe last week by allowing selected journalists to drive a lightly camouflaged preproduction prototype model. Among the "chosen ones" was Motor Trend magazine that took the opportunity to shoot an interesting video of their short encounter with the new 370Z. Check out the video right after the jump. -Continued

Thanks for the tip Marcus!

Nissan Tiida / Versa Global Sales Top One Million

Roughly three and half year’s after the Tiida (named Versa in North American) was launched on September 30, 2004 and Nissan announced that cumulative sales of its compact car topped one million in March 2008. The Tiida was initially launched in the Japanese market in September 2004, followed by a rollout to the general overseas markets including China in 2005 with subsequent launches in North America and Europe in 2006 and 2007 respectively. As of March, 2008, the Tiida / Versa is sold in 165 countries worldwide.

2008 Nissan Tiida / Versa Facelift Released in Japan

Four years after their initial debut in Japan, Nissan launched the subtlety revised 2008 Tiida 5-door hatchback and Tiida Latio 4-door sedan (called Versa in the States) in the domestic market today. The facelift models feature new exterior and interior designs, retuned electric power steering, powertrain enhancements and a new "Plus navi HDD" package, among other improvements.

In particular, both Tiida and Tiida Latio feature revised front-end designs, with new grilles, front bumpers and headlights while the 5d Tiida also gets new taillights and a rear bumper. Inside, the changes include the redesigned instrument cluster that features new illumination colours and a fuel consumption display function, a revised center stack with redesigned automatic air-conditioner controls and new illumination scheme, as well as new silver finishers. Additionally, new seat fabric patterns and stitching colors are available on all models. -Continued

The new Tiida and Tiida Latio models each receive a variety of powertrain enhancements, including the new availability of a 6-speed manual transmission on 1.8-liter models along with the retuned electric-assisted power steering system that promises to offer improved feel at low and high speeds.

Although Nissan hasn’t made any official announcement concerning the matter, we suspect that many changes will pass on the European Tiida and US market Versa models.

Nissan Tiida / Versa S-tune PROTO by NISMO

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Detroit Show overlapped the Tokyo Auto Salon, we missed out on many presentations that occurred in the Japanese capitol. One of them was the Nissan Tiida (or Versa in N. America and elsewhere) tuned by NISMO. The Tiida S-Tune PROTO concept featured a subtle bodykit that included front and rear aprons, spoilers and NISMO livery along with new alloy-wheels. NISMO also fiddled around with the compact hatch’s suspension, brakes and engine unit. -Continued

Via: Diariomotor , Source: Nissan

Chrysler To Offer Nissan Versa Sedan Based Model In South America

Chrysler LLC and Nissan today announced an agreement for Nissan to supply Chrysler with the new Versa sedan on an Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) basis for limited distribution in South America starting in 2009. The two companies also stated that they have agreed to maintain an open dialogue to explore further product-sharing opportunities. -Continued

"This kind of tactical partnership allows us to maximize product offerings yet minimize costly investments -- such as new plant infrastructure, tooling and R&D," said Chrysler LLC President and Co-Chairman Tom LaSorda. "This partnership will give Chrysler nearly immediate access to vehicle segments in which we do not currently compete."

“Nissan has a successful track-record of win-win product exchanges and we are pleased to be entering into this second agreement with Chrysler,” said Carlos Tavares, Executive Vice President, Nissan Motor Company.