Nissan Terrano, which is the premium badge engineered version of the Renault Duster has been unveiled. The pre-sales booking of the Terrano will commence from 1st September and it is due to go on sale pan India in the month of October. This is the fourth vehicle to be manufactured locally at Nissan’s Oragadam plant along with the Micra, Sunny and Evalia. It is officially confirmed that the Nissan Terrano will be priced sub-Rs. 10 lakh onwards and the exact pricing will be released near to the launch.
The Nissan Terrano boasts of premium styling over the Renault Duster. The carmaker has already started dispatching the Terrano to a few dealers. From the looks of it, Nissan has done significant changes on the exteriors including new set of headlamps and tail lamps along with revised bumpers, redesigned grille and roof rails. The overall stance of the Nissan Terrano remains the same as the Duster and so are the underpinnings, which are identical.
On the inside, the Nissan Terrano gets two tone beige interiors with piano black finish on the centre console and chrome surrounds around the AC vents. The steering wheel is all new and the space inside is identical to the Duster. The storage space on the top of the centre console is now closed to increase utility. The Nissan Terrano will be offered in 6 colours namely grey, silver, bronze, red, black and white. The vehicle will be priced around Rs. 50,000/- more than the Renault Duster. Do you think this badge-engineering is worth the extra premium?
At today’s event, Nissan highlighted the design of the Terrano, which although a Duster under the skin, is being marketed as a blockbuster with Nissan SUV genes (a DNA test will reveal it’s has Dacia heritage). The features are identical to the Duster, which means the top-end variant gets ABS, airbags, touch-screen audio system, etc. However steering column mounted audio controls are missing. The Nissan Terrano will be offered with three engines, which are identical to the Duster. The company plans to export the Terrano in the future and hence the 1.6-litre petrol engine is being offered in the vehicle. It produces 101 PS of power and 145 Nm of torque. The 1.5-litre k9k diesel engine is offed in two states of tune, producing 85 PS, 200 Nm and 110 PS, 248 Nm respectively. There is no automatic gearbox on offer.
Clearly Nissan has tried its level best to spruce up the Duster and the badge engineering exercise seems to be better than what Renault has managed with the Pulse and Scala. However one can’t change the fact that the Terrano is going to be very overpriced, considering the Duster itself is overpriced for what it offers. With the Ford EcoSport redefining the very definition of value for money, can Nissan command a premium over the successful Duster and get away? We doubt, considering the Nissan badge doesn’t hold a premium image with buyers.
