Nissan will give a world premiere of the new Pixo at the 2008 Paris Motor Show next month. It is a new five-door, four seater mini or city car.
In addition, there will be a futuristic concept car making a global debut, while a heavily revised version of the Note will complete the headliners at Nissan’s stand in Paris.
Nissan says all the stars of its show share a philosophy of tackling the reality of mobility in and around the city - today, tomorrow, and in the more distant future.
Pixo will go on sale next year
With the theme of compact urban motoring, and with outstanding green credentials, the new Pixo is an accessible city car which offers low emissions and consumption at an accessible price.
Nissan tells us the Pixo is a five-door- four-seater with a roomy interior and generous luggage space, thanks to its efficient design and packaging. It has a highly efficient three cylinder 1.0-litre engine.
Nissan boasts that thanks to its new lightweight construction, with resulting benefits in performance, very low fuel consumption, and emissions, Pixo will be among the best value eco-cars in the small city car category.
Pixo is 3565mm long, 1470mm tall, and 1600mm wide. It has a wheelbase of 2360mm.
Built in collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation, at state-of-the art facilities in Delhi, India, Pixo is a brand new four-seater competing in the fast growing A-segment.
Nissan says that unlike some of its immediate rivals, Pixo is far from a micro car. It has five doors, but remains sufficiently compact to be agile thus be ideal for city driving.
Unusually in this class, Pixo is also available with a full four-speed automatic, reinforcing its suitability as a town car that is perfectly capable of longer journeys when needed.
Sales of the new Pixo should start here from next summer.
Revision Notes
Nissan says a wide range of changes and improvements have been made to Note in order to maintain its place as one of the most innovative, space-efficient, and popular accessible compact cars on the market.
The most obvious changes can be found to the exterior design where the front end benefits from a new design of grille, bumper, and headlight, lending the Note a more premium and sleek appearance.
At the rear, the signature ‘boomerang’ lights are now darker, another discreet change which adds to the Note’s premium feeling. Two new designs of alloy wheels – 15” and 16” – are available, while Nissan says a new eye-catching pale green exterior colour called Cider has been developed.
A new combi-meter has been introduced, giving improved legibility and clarity and there is also a new central instrument panel, giving a cleaner appearance to the centre console.
Under the skin, improvements have been made to the Note’s suspension to improve ride comfort, while improving responsiveness, knowing that customers consider driving enjoyment a key priority.
This follows revisions to its engine and gearbox ratios, and the introduction of a 1.5-litre dCi powered Note, which produces CO2 of just 119g/km. This also follows the introduction of a diesel particulate filter on the 1.5-litre diesel engine earlier this year.
Additionally, customers will benefit from reduced CO2 emissions from the Note’s 1.4-litre petrol engine. Thanks to revised gear ratios, it will produce just 139g/km.
Nuvu concept for the real tomorrow
Nissan’s vision for the future of urban transportation is encapsulated in Nuvu, literally a ‘new view’ of the type of car we will be driving in the middle of the next decade. Compact – it is just three metres long – Nuvu is a concept vehicle with unique 2+1 seating.
It is aimed at urban dwellers who do not want to compromise on their personal freedom or their comfort, yet who appreciate that there is a need for a dramatic change in the way we move around our cities.
Nuvu is an electric vehicle, is agile, easy to drive, and even easier to park. It represents Nissan’s commitment to electric vehicle technology, considering that Nissan has already announced that it will present a production-ready EV at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.
Sales are due to start in Japan and North America in 2010. While Nuvu is not that car, it does share some of the technology that will feature in the planned production vehicle.
And finally...
As well as the above mentioned stars of their show, Nissan will also have its Crossover icon, the new Murano, on display and its baby brother, the Qashqai+2 - the family Crossover - which takes the Qashqai concept and offers extra interior space and convenience for those buyers who are uninspired by the traditional MPV options.
Finally, watch out for the introduction of their Connect in Paris. It is Nissan’s new combined satellite navigation, audio entertainment. and communication system.
It was conceived to offer the level of convenience and user-friendliness normally found on portable navigation devices with the added convenience of full integration into the centre console.
