The Japanese car maker, Nissan Motors has always eyed India as one of its potential markets to garner sales volumes. Recently, at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show, the company revealed its new model, the Nissan Sylphy. Although, the car has been selling under the name of Sentra in the North American markets for quite some time now, Nissan still decided to keep a new name for this car. Nissan has announced that after its introduction in the Chinese market, the Slyphy will be introduced in many major countries by 2012 and close to 120 countries by 2014. So, in India, if not 2013, by 2014 Nissan will be definitely launching this model.
The next generation Nissan Sentra (or the Sylphy whatever you want to call it), is going to replace the current Sentra and the changes in the new model seems to have been kept only till few cosmetic tweaks. Additional chrome has been put on the front grille with some slight tweaks to the bumper design. On the inside, decorative wood panels grace on the center console, this might not however make it to the American version. The car is due to go on sale in China this summer.
Under the hood, the Chinese specification Sylphy is powered by a new 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine matched to a next-generation XTRONIC CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). In India however, we will get the k9k diesel engine in the Sylphy, which will produce 108 PS of power. The engine will be mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The Slylphy looks a worthy competitor and will help Nissan enter the D-segment, which is currently dominated by the Chevrolet Cruze. The Sylphy’s primary rivals will be the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, with prices expected to start around Rs. 14 lakhs.
