New Nissan Sunny Sedan Unveiled at China Auto Show. Is this the New 2012 Versa?

Taking center stage and making its world debut at the 8th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition, is Nissan's all-new global small sedan, which will be locally marketed as the Sunny. According to the Japanese automaker, the new small sedan will go on sale first in China in January 2011 and then progressively across 170 countries worldwide under different vehicle brand names.

Even though Nissan's Spartan press release did not mention the Versa, there are one too many styling similarities between the new Sunny and the 2012 Versa sedan teased in an official sketch released by the automaker in October 2010. However, we have to stress the fact that Nissan has not made a connection between the two cars.

The Sunny, or as Nissan likes to call it, the firm's new global sedan, is believed to be based on the underpinnings of the Micra supermini, something that could explain the striking resemblance of the dashboard design.

Among the few details released about the car is that in China, it will be offered with Nissan's 1.5-liter HR15DE four-cylinder engine linked to Xtronic CVT, and that engineers have fitted the Sunny with MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam for the rear suspension.

For the China market, the new Sunny will be produced in Dongfeng Nissan’s Huadu Plant in Guangzhou and will be priced from RMB 82.8K to 112.8K (US$12,450-16,830 / €9,400 -12,700 / Yen 1.04 million - 1.41million).

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Nissan Teases Next-Generation Versa Sedan with Sketch

A sketchy teaser shot with a footnote that says "Nissan announced today that the next-generation Nissan Versa will be sold in the Americas" is about all we get from the Japanese automaker regarding its all-new subcompact sedan. There's a good chance we may see the 2012 Versa saloon getting its world premiere alongside the Murano CrossConvertible at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in November, though nothing has been confirmed yet. We'll keep you up to date with any new information we receive, but for the time being, hit the break for a larger version of the teaser shot.

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Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

The recalled Garmin units can be found on certain Suzuki vehicles including the 2008-2010MY SX4 crossovers, 2010MY Grand Vitara SUVs, and 2009-2010MY Equator vehicles, and the 2008-2010MY Nissan Altima, Frontier, Pahtfinder, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles.

In both cases, the automakers will notify owners of the affected models, and the repairs will be performed by Garmin technicians who will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery free of charge.

2011 Nissan Versa / Tiida Rendered, Gets New Turbo Engines

The Nissan Tiida, also known in the U.S. and Canada as the Versa, has been around in Japan since 2004. That is a long time in automobile-years so it comes to no surprise that Japanese magazines like “Best Car” have started publishing renderings of the Versa / Tiida’s replacement, expected in 2010. The artist’s rendering seen here, depicts a no-frills design proposal for the sedan variant that would also spawn a five-door hatchback version.

Best Car claims that, at least in what concerns the Japanese-market model, the 2010 Tiida / Verso will be offered with new range of turbocharged petrol engines. Since it is rumored that Nissan’s next-generation compact car will be based upon the Renault Megane architecture, the engine range could include Renault’s new 1.4-liter and 2.0-liter TCe turbocharged petrol units that deliver 130 and 180 HP respectively.

Expect to see the new Versa / Tiida hitting showrooms in the States and Europe sometime in 2011.

Rendering: Best Car

Nissan Tiida / Versa Global Sales Top One Million

Roughly three and half year’s after the Tiida (named Versa in North American) was launched on September 30, 2004 and Nissan announced that cumulative sales of its compact car topped one million in March 2008. The Tiida was initially launched in the Japanese market in September 2004, followed by a rollout to the general overseas markets including China in 2005 with subsequent launches in North America and Europe in 2006 and 2007 respectively. As of March, 2008, the Tiida / Versa is sold in 165 countries worldwide.

2008 Nissan Tiida / Versa Facelift Released in Japan

Four years after their initial debut in Japan, Nissan launched the subtlety revised 2008 Tiida 5-door hatchback and Tiida Latio 4-door sedan (called Versa in the States) in the domestic market today. The facelift models feature new exterior and interior designs, retuned electric power steering, powertrain enhancements and a new "Plus navi HDD" package, among other improvements.

In particular, both Tiida and Tiida Latio feature revised front-end designs, with new grilles, front bumpers and headlights while the 5d Tiida also gets new taillights and a rear bumper. Inside, the changes include the redesigned instrument cluster that features new illumination colours and a fuel consumption display function, a revised center stack with redesigned automatic air-conditioner controls and new illumination scheme, as well as new silver finishers. Additionally, new seat fabric patterns and stitching colors are available on all models. -Continued

The new Tiida and Tiida Latio models each receive a variety of powertrain enhancements, including the new availability of a 6-speed manual transmission on 1.8-liter models along with the retuned electric-assisted power steering system that promises to offer improved feel at low and high speeds.

Although Nissan hasn’t made any official announcement concerning the matter, we suspect that many changes will pass on the European Tiida and US market Versa models.

Nissan Tiida / Versa S-tune PROTO by NISMO

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Detroit Show overlapped the Tokyo Auto Salon, we missed out on many presentations that occurred in the Japanese capitol. One of them was the Nissan Tiida (or Versa in N. America and elsewhere) tuned by NISMO. The Tiida S-Tune PROTO concept featured a subtle bodykit that included front and rear aprons, spoilers and NISMO livery along with new alloy-wheels. NISMO also fiddled around with the compact hatch’s suspension, brakes and engine unit. -Continued

Via: Diariomotor , Source: Nissan

Chrysler To Offer Nissan Versa Sedan Based Model In South America

Chrysler LLC and Nissan today announced an agreement for Nissan to supply Chrysler with the new Versa sedan on an Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) basis for limited distribution in South America starting in 2009. The two companies also stated that they have agreed to maintain an open dialogue to explore further product-sharing opportunities. -Continued

"This kind of tactical partnership allows us to maximize product offerings yet minimize costly investments -- such as new plant infrastructure, tooling and R&D," said Chrysler LLC President and Co-Chairman Tom LaSorda. "This partnership will give Chrysler nearly immediate access to vehicle segments in which we do not currently compete."

“Nissan has a successful track-record of win-win product exchanges and we are pleased to be entering into this second agreement with Chrysler,” said Carlos Tavares, Executive Vice President, Nissan Motor Company.