Aussie Motoring

The head of Nissan has announced that the company will be launching an electric car into the US market place by 2010.

Nissan and Renault will work together on the required technology and by 2012 will have the vehicle available outside of the United States. Nissan will focus on marketing the vehicle in Asia … especially China … while Renault will sell the vehicle into the European market.

If you’re looking for the best second-hand Nissan X-Trail on the market today then check out this 2002 model.

This Nissan X-Trail is for sale here in Queensland at the moment and you can see more of it by following the link.

Nissan claims its first hybrid will be on the road within three years

A Japanese business magazine has reported that Nissan will have its first hybrid on the road within three years. The vehicle will be sub-compact that will be powered by lithium-ion batteries that Nissan will develop themselves.

Nissan is also planning on releasing a gas-electric hybrid sometime in 2010 and will work with Renault to put a bioethanol vehicle on the road.

Every month several of the car companies here in Australia send out a newsletter and they are always full of interesting information.

Nissan is one of those that send out a newsletter but this month it was different. In the past the newsletter has appeared to be produced and distributed in-house but this month the email was distributed through onemail-com.au.

No big deal you might think and it isn’t a big deal because none of the links in the newsletter will open in in the browser I and over 10% of web surfers use. It’s also changed in appearance from something that looked bright and interesting to something that is presented in drab colours that would do little to excite anyone.

On top of all that even the text is in a colour that is not easy to read.

I guess there’s more than one way for a car company to shoot itself in the foot and Nissan have just found a new way.

Nissan please delete me from your email list - I would do so myself but ‘remove’ link has disappeared from your emails.

There has been some speculation around for a while now that Nissan might be interested in some form of alliance with General Motors in the US.

Unfortunately for GM that possibility is looking less and less likely every passing day. GM has reported a massive drop in sales for June when compared to this time last year. With sales down over 25% it’s unlikely that GM is looking all that attractive to Nissan right now.

Nissan is having its own problems both in the US and Japan. Sales have reportedly slumped in the US and Nissan shareholders have been warned to expect a drop in sales in Japanese sales too.

When Nissan released the Tiida I had a feeling I had seen that car somewhere before. It was just one of those niggling little thoughts in the back of my mind made even more annoying because the claim from Nissan was that this was an all new design.

Well now I know why I had that feeling. Nissan in the US is quite open about the fact that the Nissan Versa (that’s what the Tiida is called in the US) is actually based on this car:

the Renault Megane.

That doesn’t mean that the Tiida is not a good car - in fact it just goes to enhance the quality of the car because Renault have been building great cars for many years.

If you want to see what the Americans think of the Versa/Tiida then click here

Now here is a concept car that has been released at for the Melbourne Motor Show that I like, not because it’s a real head-turner or it pushes the boundaries of technology but because it’s a concept car that you or I could build.

That’s right, the Nissan Nismo 350Z is a concept car put together from parts that are locally available through the Nissan dealer network right here in Australia.

For more information and all the specs follow this link.

After 20 years and numerous styling changes the Nissan Pulsar is dead and its replacement is about to hit Nissan showrooms across Australia. To replace the Pulsar Nissan are introducing the Tiida – a totally different car to the Pulsar.

The Tiida comes with better equipment levels than the old Pulsar but confirms Nissan’s commitment to the sub $20,000 market by landing in the showrooms with a base price of $19,990.

Even though the Tiida is not due for release until February 1 a number have been out and about on the motoring writer circuit and a brief review is already been released by one writer.

It seems that the new Tiida is:

Bigger and more comfortable

Has good all-round view from the driver’s seat

It’s good to drive

It has problems with the 6 speed manual gearbox

You can read the first review of the Nissan Tiida here

While people in Sydney and Melbourne have had a chance to look at the Nissan Tiida while they were on display in various shopping centres the rest of us have had to sit and wait.

Come February 1 the wait will be over because that is the date set for the Tiida’s release. Expect some photos here that afternoon.

Quite a few people have been coming to the site looking for the specifications for the Nissan Navara.

If you follow this link you will find a comparison chart that will show you the Nissan Navara Specifications for each model.

Here is an interesting quote from the latest Nissan eNews

The all new turbo diesel Nissan Navara Dual Cab has been voted “Best Pick-Up” in the 2005 What Van? Awards in the UK. What Van? drove every light commercial vehicle available in the British market, assessing them for drivability, comfort, performance, handling, refinement, safety, load area, economy and value for money. The Navara picked up the gold in the “Pick Up” section beating off stiff competition from the Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi L200.

Since its launch in August 2005 in the UK, Navara has been the top-selling pick-up every month. Out of the total number of pick-ups sold in Britain in September over 40% carried the Nissan badge.

What Van? editor Neil McIntee commented: “It’s rare for What Van?’s band of hardened hacks to fall completely in love with a vehicle at first drive, but that’s what happened with the Navara. It’s one of the best-performing diesel 4×4 pick-ups we’ve ever encountered”.

You can read the full article here at What Van?

And you can find a brief review of the new D40 Nissan Navara dual cab here