Just last month, we carried a post on how major cities across the world are happily adopting the Nissan NV 200 as their official taxis. We had also indicated that a comfier version of the NV 200 would be launched in India in a few weeks’ time. Just as we said, Nissan launched the Evalia in India today to take the fight to Toyota Innova, India’s best-selling Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) by far. Competitors came, challenged and either perished or accepted the defeat and started playing second fiddle to the Innova. Will Nissan be able to put up a fight against the mighty Toyota and emerge successful in the Indian market? That is the question that all of us are eagerly looking forward to for an answer. Wait for a few more days, and we will know.
Coming back to the Evalia, Nissan has launched the MPV in a range of 4 variants – XE, XE+, XL and XV, priced at INR 8.49 Lakhs, 8.92 Lakhs , 9.49 Lakhs and 9.99 Lakhs respectively. All prices are ex-showroom, New Delhi. Understandably, the base XE variant gets only the basic set of features that includes power steering, air-conditioning, multi-information display and electric mirrors. While the XL variant adds features like central locking, power windows and air-conditioning vents for the second row, the top-end XV variant comes fully loaded with intelligent key, reverse camera and a colored multi-information display.
The best part of Evalia’s feature list is the availability of Antilock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) as standard across the range. Additionally, all but the base XE variant are equipped with driver and passenger airbags. Nissan needs to be appreciated for not skimping on safety features for a vehicle that might end up doing brisk business as a commercial people-mover.
The Evalia is powered by the familiar 1.5-liter dCi diesel engine that churns out 84 bhp of maximum power and 20.4 kgm of peak torque. Having experienced this engine extensively in the Nissan Sunny and Renault Pulse, we know that this is one of the best low-capacity diesel engines around, with an amazingly linear power delivery and absolutely no turbo lag. With the top-end grunt not satisfactory even in lighter cars like the Pulse and Sunny, we expect that virtue to be carried over with the Evalia as well, which is significantly heavier. With its huge proportions and relatively tiny wheels, we are skeptical about the handling of the Evalia, especially at high speeds in highways. We really hope Nissan proves us wrong here when we get to drive the Evalia.
On the whole though, the Nissan Evalia seems to be a worthy competitor to the Toyota Innova, a model that has been dominating the market for many years now. But, is the market ready to look any further than the Toyota badge? For Nissan’s sake, we hope it does.
These looks can be a put-off for anyone,anytime.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Evalia is definitely not a good looker, we wouldn't say that it is a put-off. But private buyers will have a tough time convincing their families about the Evalia. The Toyota Innova looks far better.
DeleteI would prefer Innova.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that the Evalia is significantly cheaper than an Innova with similar features and specifications.
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