News Archive

2011 2008 - 2010

View the World of Nissan from Your Mobile Digital Device

YOKOHAMA, Japan (October 20, 2011) - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. has launched the Nissan Global App, an iPad application that offers news distributed by Nissan from around the world, information about the history of Nissan, and content about its advanced technologies. The application can be downloaded for free from the iTunes? App Store.

About the Nissan Global App
The Latest News section delivers news from the Nissan Global Site, other Nissan sites around the world, and from social media channels using videos and text. All this information is consolidated into a single screen for easy access.

The Map section provides users with direct access to information being distributed by Nissan from a given country in the world simply by selecting that country from the map screen.

The Explorer function displays the topics that are being discussed among Nissan customers. When they select items of interest to them, users will then have relevant items automatically displayed one after the other, making it possible to quickly and effectively get access to the latest information about Nissan.

Going forward, Nissan will continue to focus on emerging communication technologies and distribute information that appeals to customers, and prospective customers, in order to raise awareness and interest in Nissan Motors. The Nissan Global App for the iPad is a platform on which visitors can explore many of the little-known details of what Nissan is all about. In addition, an iPhone version of this application is under development.

*iTunes Store
An online shop linked to iTunes, the site offers free software provided by Apple. It contains content such as music, videos and games. From the App Store on the iTunes it is possible to purchase and download applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. There are also many free applications.

*iPad, iPod touch, iPhone and iTunes store are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 248,000 employees globally, Nissan provided customers with more than 4.1 million vehicles in 2010, generating revenue of 8.77 trillion yen ($102.37 billion US). With a strong commitment to developing exciting and innovative products for all, Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of 64 models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. A pioneer in zero-emission mobility, Nissan made history with the introduction of the Nissan LEAF, the first affordable, mass-market, pure-electric vehicle and winner of numerous international accolades, including the prestigious 2011 European Car of the Year award and 2011 World Car of the Year.

For more information on our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit our website at http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/.

For more information, contact:
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Japan)
Global Communications
Tel:+81-(0)45-523-5552 (Corporate)
Tel:+81-(0)45-523-5549 (Product)
Tel:+81-(0)50-3804-7182 (IR)
http://www.nissan-newsroom.com/EN/ (For media)
http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/IR/ (For IR)

WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR 2011

The all-electric Nissan LEAF is the 2011 World Car of the Year.
The announcement was made at the New York International Auto Show on Thursday, April 21, 2011.

The vehicle, which is currently available in the U.S., Japan and several European markets, also was named European Car of the Year. A panel of 66 automotive journalists representing 24 countries determine the winner of the World Car of the Year award. The BMW 5-Series and the Audi A8 were runner-ups in the competition, finishing second and third, respectively.

"It feels just like a normal car but only quieter" was the consensus from the judging committee. The five-seat, five-door hatchback was lauded for overall driving performance, quietness and handling. Nissan claims that the LEAF can travel more than 100 miles on a full charge; it takes approximately eight hours to full recharge on a 220 to 240 volt power supply.

Nissan is taking charge in its mission to become the leader of mass-marketed electric vehicles. The automobile manufacturer has forged partnerships with more than 90 governments and other organizations globally to promote sustainable mobility.

"It is a great joy that the world's first, mass-marketed electric vehicle, the Nissan LEAF, has won the prestigious award of 2011 World Car of the Year," said Mr. Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO at Nissan. "This accolade recognizes Nissan LEAF, a pioneer in zero-emission mobility, as comparable in its driving performance, quietness and superb handling to gas-powered cars. And it validates Nissan's clear vision and the values of sustainable mobility that we want to offer to customers around the world."

Turning of a new LEAF: Nissan also announced that the LEAF will be available in Mauritius by end of this calendar year 2011. Mauritius will be the first country in the region Africa, Middle East and India to introduce the NISSAN LEAF.

TOP AWARD FOR QASHQAI QUALITY

Nissan's popular crossover challenges the establishment in quality survey

ROLLE, Switzerland (January 17, 2011) – More reliable than a BMW, more popular than a Mercedes… the Nissan QASHQAI has become one of Germany’s favourite cars.

A comprehensive study by the German Automobile Association (ADAC) has led to the Nissan QASHQAI joining the Porsche 911 and the Audi A5 on the popularity podium at the same time as becoming the country’s preferred imported car.

As well as studying the statistics of more than two million breakdowns, the ADAC’s annual ‘Gelber Engel’ (Yellow Angel) Award asks owners to rate how satisfied they are with both their car and the level of service received from dealers.

The results saw Nissan QASHQAI finishing higher in the rankings than cars like the BMW 3-Series, Porsche Boxster and Mercedes-Benz SLK. It received outstanding scores in both the reliability and the customer satisfaction elements of the survey to secure third place overall. It was the only non-German car in the top eight.

Nissan QASHQAI was designed and engineered largely in Europe by teams at Nissan Design Europe (NDE) and Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE). It is built in the UK by Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK (NMUK).

“This important award shows why QASHQAI has become such a sales success across Europe,” says Simon Thomas, Senior Vice President, Nissan Europe. “It recognises the brilliance of the design and acknowledges the exceptional build quality that is engineered into all cars built at our plant in Sunderland, UK.

“The Gelber Engel award is the quality benchmark for new and nearly new cars and we are delighted QASHQAI has been recognised in this way.”

The ADAC survey is restricted to vehicles aged three years old or younger to exclude breakdowns caused by poor maintenance rather than inherent faults and embraces only vehicles with significant sales to ensure a realistic picture is achieved. For the 2011 award, some 150 models were investigated.

The results are published in the Association’s magazine ADAC Motorwelt, which has a readership of more than 19 million. ADAC is the second largest automobile club in the world with 17.5 million members.

Nissan QASHQAI was launched in 2007 as an innovative and attractive alternative to the mainstream hatchbacks that dominated the European C segment. The combination of SUV features and the qualities of a compact family car created a crossover which has appealed to buyers all over Europe. More than 740,000 units have been sold in Europe to date with 270,000 units rolling off the production line at Nissan’s Sunderland plant during 2010 alone. A major facelift in the spring of last year further enhanced the vehicle’s quality and refinement.

ADAC Gelber Engel 2011
1: Porsche 911
2: Audi A5
3: Nissan QASHQAI
4: Porsche Boxster
5: BMW 1-Series
6: BMW 3-Series

NV200 Van of the Year 2010 in Europe

NV200, Nissan’s global all new small van has been awarded the International Van of the Year (IVoY) 2010 by a jury made of 23 specialized European journalists representing a readership of more than half a million owners of commercial vehicles.

“The Jury was particularly impressed by the fact that Nissan created a compact light commercial vehicle that sets new standards in terms of internal space in relation to the external dimensions” said the official statement from the IVoY Jury.

“We are delighted to receive the IVoY 2010 award as the recognition of Nissan’s determination to create innovative light commercial vehicles that exceed customer expectations” said Andy Palmer, Senior Vice President, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

“The NV200 is a global vehicle that associates unmatched levels of functionality with unique and attractive design. We offer our customers a vehicle that is an efficient and reliable business tool” said Palmer.

The NV200 is a real segment breaker with exterior dimension comparable to a car derived van and cargo capacity of a higher class. It is 4.4m long, 1.86m, tall and 1.69m wide and comes with a cavernous cargo space. Intelligent packaging delivers a cargo load bay more than 2m in length, sufficient to carry two standard Euro pallets at the same time. The cargo floor lowest in its category, only 524mm. As a result, NV200′s load cube offers a cargo volume of 4.2m3, around 25 per cent greater than competitor’s average, offering additional 1m3.

The NV200 is available in Europe in Van and Combi versions and a passenger vehicle will join the line-up from 2010.

The NV200 is already sold in Japan, where it became instantly the segment leader, with over 40% market share. Sales in Europe start this month (start of sales varies by country). In 2010 it will be launched China and sales in other markets are in advanced study phase.

NV200 will also be produced globally. It is already produced in Japan and production in Europe will start this month (initial supply for the European market will be sourced from Japan). Production in China is planned for 2010.

Recently Nissan announced that a light commercial vehicle based on the NV200 will be the second electric vehicle to be launched by Nissan.

Nissan Tiida ranked top in Entry Midsize Category

[Quality] China: Nissan Tiida Ranked Top in Entry Midsize Category in IQS - December 14
The J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2010 China Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) released in October ranked the Nissan Tiida No. 1 in the entry midsize category, while the Nissan Teana ranked No. 2 in the upper premium midsize segment and Nissan QASHQAI ranked No. 3 in the SUV segment.



Overall, Nissan ranked No. 5 out of 40 brands, up four places from last year. In the ranking for nonluxury brands, which excludes Audi and BMW, Nissan ranked third, a move up of three places from the prior year.



Brand Ranking
Now in its 11th year, IQS looks at problems experienced within the first two to six months by new car owners. Two categories are examined: quality of design and quality of production (defects and malfunctions). The overall initial quality score is based on problems experienced per 100 vehicles, with a lower rate of problem incidence indicating higher quality.

The 2010 China Initial Quality study was based on evaluations from owners of 14,649 new vehicles purchased between October 2009 and June 2010, and included 151 models among 55 makes.

In Quality Leadership efforts, Nissan aims to be at the top level in the quality survey for the magazine which customers place most emphasis on in terms of quality and the quality survey conducted by external institutions in FY2010. Nissan will continuously make efforts for Quality Leadership.

News on Nissan Micra

[Award] Micra, the Top Launch of 2010 on Yahoo! India - December 14

On December 2, the new Micra has been awarded as the top launch for 2010 on Yahoo! India. A panel of all editors of Yahoo! India awards the top launches across different product categories for the year. The ratings are given depending on the number of hits to the websites by end users as well as the number of positive reviews/feedback that has been received on the product.

2010 Year in review – Top Launches
Top Launches (top five)

1.Nissan Micra: Best Small Car ?
2.Tata's Grand Aria
3.VW Vento: Talk of the Town
4.Toyota Etios: Truly Indian
5.Chevrolet Beat: Feel the Rhythm

When most of the launches happened at the Auto Expo, Nissan made us wait until July for the Micra, but they didn't disappoint. A very intriguing car with a quirky design, the Micra is a package of many 'firsts' in the B segment such as Intelligent Key plus Immobilizer, push-button engine start-stop system and electric foldable mirror. Moreover, it's the only car in the segment to feature an airbag even in the base-model. Nissan Micra is the perfect car for city driving. The third gear offers a wide enough power band that makes driving in dense traffic child’s play. With a small turning radius of just 4.65m and excellent visibility, city driving becomes a pleasure.

Micra's willing engine and marginally better fuel efficiency are definite pluses as is its better interior room. On a straight line, Micra is a champion and is surprisingly stable even at 150km/h, thanks to good aerodynamics realised by the uniquely shaped cabin with a slightly raised roof end. The compact suspension built for the V-platform absorbs plenty of punishment handed out by our roads although there is some amount of body roll. Among its contenders, Micra appears to find the sweet spot with its brilliant ride quality, unique features and interior space. Micra is efficient too, 18.05 kpl, overall.

CAR OF THE YEAR 2011