YOKOHAMA (September 15, 2010) - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that its new global compact car, the Nissan March, also known as the Nissan Micra in other markets, has topped 54,000 customer sales orders around the world as of September 13, six months after the world's first launch in Thailand.
Greatly exceeding company expectations, orders for the all-new Nissan March/Micra have surpassed regional monthly and annual targets in a very short period of time. First released in Thailand in mid-March, it has already topped 25,700 units which is 28 percent more than its yearly target of 20,000 units for the Thai market in six months. Two months after its Japan launch on July 13, orders have reached 21,857 units as of September 13. This represents more than five times the monthly target of 4,000 units. In India, Nissan Micra received approximately 4,000 customer orders since its start of booking on May 25. For China, sales orders have reached 3,000 two weeks after the start of sales on August 30.
"This demand for Nissan March/Micra gives fine testimony to its superb customer acceptance to our new global compact car, which created a whole new set of industry standards by smart engineering. I believe this is the meaningful first step for Nissan to achieve one million units of sales by three models based on the newly developed V-Platform by 2013," said Akihisa Suzuki, Nissan's Global Chief Marketing Manager in charge of Nissan March/Micra.
Export of Nissan's Micra-badged version to European countries from Chennai Plant in India will begin in October. In Europe, Nissan Micra, first introduced in 1983, is recognized as an iconic city car.
In addition, the company plans to start production of Nissan March in Mexico in early 2011. Nissan's new global compact car is set to be introduced in over 160 countries and regions around the world.
Outstanding Performance
Nissan March is the first car being sold under the Thai government's new "eco-car" standard, created to encourage the development of energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. The new Nissan March meets its requirement to have low emission with the class-leading fuel efficiency to travel 100 kilometers on 5 liters of fuel*1. With the Nissan March's 41 liter capacity, this translates to a whole lot of distance on a full tank with lesser environmental impact. Together with its spacious interior which can seat five passengers, good driving performance and appealing modern design, this compact hatchback has been well received by Thai customers.
In Japan, its best-in-class fuel economy of 26.0km/L*2 achieved by the adoption of a newly-developed Idling Stop System, superior drivability, user-friendly features, as well as its affordable price has won it a wide range of customers. Grades equipped with Idling Stop account for about 80% of the total orders.
In India, Nissan Micra is well received by customers as an affordable car boasting many features which are first-of-its-kind in its segment, such as the SRS airbag across all the models and the intelligent key (I-key) with push button ignition. Positioned as the urban-simplifier, Nissan Micra's advantages in superb fuel economy and its sophisticated design attracted the customers' choice.
In China, powered by HR15DE engine combined with the newly developed automatic transmission, the new Nissan March offers sweet acceleration with max power of 79kW to meet the Chinese customers' demand for the powerful driving.
Critical Acclaim
Nissan's all new global compact car received the award of "Car of The Year" in the "Most Environmental Friendly Car" category given by Grand Prix International Co., Ltd., Thailand's most influential automotive award. Jury members consist of journalists, engineers, distinguished university lecturers and auto experts who help assess vehicles under a range of criteria including design, comfort, fuel economy, handling, performance, environmental friendliness, customer satisfaction and value for money.
It also won the award of "the most exciting model to be launched in 2010" in China. The jurors at the 2010 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition recognized that the arrival of the all-new Nissan March will provide the Chinese market with a very significant, fun and friendly vehicle that customers can look forward to.
Since the introduction of the first generation Nissan March in 1982, more than 5.7 million units of Nissan March/Micra have been sold in Japan and other regions.
Nissan March is built in designated major manufacturing facilities around the world, maintaining the highest standards in quality through the global application of the Nissan Production Way.
*1: Euro4
*2: 10-15 mode (Fuel consumption mode for Japanese emission regulation)
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