Nissan India has unveiled the Indian-built Evalia multi-purpose vehicle at the Expo, the car we previously knew only as the NV200. The Evalia is a seven-seater MPV which will take on the likes of Toyota’s Innova and Mahindra’s Xylo. One of the interesting factors about this MPV is the sliding doors, like on the Maruti Omni or the Eeco. The rear end is a proper boxy section with the tail lights being placed lower down.
For the interiors, Nissan have chosen the middle row to be a bench while the first and second rows will be individual seats making for a total of seven seats. To increase luggage space, the rear bench can be folded. Built on Nissan’s B-platform, the Evalia is a seven-seater with a 2+3+2 configuration. It is 4.4 metres long, 1.88 metres tall and 1.69 metres wide, but the most relevant stat is the 2.73m wheelbase, which is 95mm more than Nissan’s X-trail SUV. For increased space efficiency, the Evalia will be using a dash mounted gear lever.
The Nissan Evalia in India will have a strut type suspension in the front, while the rear will have leaf springs. Four crossmembers and reinforced sills complete the rigidity of the shell. As far as the feature list is concerned, Nissan will kit the Evalia with power steering, reverse camera and an intelligent key. Nissan also claim that the Evalia will have car-like ride and handling capabilities.
Nissan will be launching the Evalia with the 1.5 dCI engine from the Renault-Nissan alliance and it is expected to produce 86 or 105PS. Nissan will be offering only a manual transmission initially. Since Nissan says that they will start manufacture of the Evalia later this year at their Oragadam facility in Chennai, we expect the pricing of the Evalia to be very competitive.
Production of the Evalia will start in the second half of 2012 at Nissan’s factory near Chennai.
Also on display were Nissan’s entire India range of cars, alongside the company’s powerful flagship, the GT-R and its series production electric car, the Leaf.
Also see – Spied – Nissan NV200 van
