Nissan has stopped production of the Evalia MPV in India owing to poor sales and to also clear their inventory. The production halt might help Nissan to concentrate further on the luxury car space.
Among the worst performing MPVs in India, the Evalia has always struggled to get going in the segment. To make things better, Nissan had even given the Evalia a couple of facelifts, but all efforts went in vain as the MPV didn’t strike the right cord with Indian car buyers. This can be attributed to the vehicle’s boxy styling, which is not pleasing to the eyes. But the same hasn’t been the case in international markets where the Evalia which carries the NV200 name has always performed well. Anyhow, competition in the MPV space through the likes of the Maruti Ertiga and the Honda Mobilio also played a detrimental role for the Evalia.
Citing all of the aforementioned facts, Nissan has stopped production of the Evalia MPV in India. According to the company, the MPV’s design and styling is relatively unconventional, as a result of which the vehicle was not able to meet sales expectations of Nissan India. The production has only been halted for an indefinite period till the company and dealerships are able to clear out the remaining inventory and create a new space in the market for the model. However, this will not be a simple task for Nissan as they have experienced before also, as they still continue to market the vehicle to its target customers.
The Japanese major pitted the MPV against the segment king Innova, but the Evalia does not even come close to the latter if the overall sales of the Nissan is compared to the monthly sales of the Toyota. Ever since the Evalia started retailing in the country in October 2012, it could only manage to find 2412 customers. The Stile MPV (sold 1 unit last month) is a rebadged Evalia (sold 3 units last month) resulted through a joint venture between Nissan and Ashok Leyland. Even this model found only 1154 buyers and was discontinued in May this year, citing similar issues. Nissan might even have stopped production of the MPV in order to focus on brand reach and also improve its portfolio by tapping into the luxury segment.
Source – AutocarPro.in