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.

Nissan Planning to Sell a New Low-Cost, Micra-Based Model in the USA

Nissan officials confirmed today that the automaker is planning to add a new entry-level model based on the soon-to-be-revealed Micra in its U.S. market lineup. The next generation Micra (think Toyota Yaris and Ford Fiesta competitor), which was teased with a pair of renderings as well as a set of leaked design sketches, is based on Nissan's so-called "V-platform" that is said to give birth to two additional models aside from the hatchback, including a four-door sedan and a multipurpose vehicle.

"V platform" manager Vincent Cobee said that the Nissan's engineers spent four years to find ways to reduce production costs and weight out of a small car.

According to the company, the new platform will see a 50 percent improvement in fuel economy (we know, it sounds a bit too optimistic) over the current Micra while the firm's engineers have reduced the total number of parts in the car by 18 percent. For example, while the current Micra's cockpit has 56 parts, the new model will have 27.

According to Autonews that attended the press event at the Nissan's headquarters today, the U.S. market will play a significant role in the firm's plan to sell a million vehicles a year from all the derivatives of the newly created "V platform".

However, Nissan did not reveal which of the three models will come to the States nor when they go on sale or if the U.S.-market vehicle(s) will be produced in the States.

Nissan said that the new global Micra, which is set to make its debut next year, will be made in five different plants around the world, including India, China, Thailand and two other unidentified locations.

Via: Autonews

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

2009 Nissan Versa Sedan 1.6 Becomes Cheapest New Car in the USA

Priced from $9,990 (excluding a destination and handling fee of $695) the new Versa Sedan 1.6 is the cheapest vehicle on four wheels in the U.S. - or so Nissan claims. The newest addition in the Nissan Versa's range is powered by a smaller displacement 107HP 1.6-liter engine as opposed to the 122HP 1.8-liter unit found in the standard Versa Sedan and Hatchback models (pictured above) that are both priced from $12,990. The 1.6-liter engine is mated to a standard 5-speed manual gearbox and optionally, to a 4-speed automatic transmission. -Continued

According to the Japanese manufacturer, the Versa Sedan 1.6's fuel economy is rated at 26 mpg city/34 mpg highway with the 5-speed manual and 26 mpg city/33 mpg highway with the 4-speed automatic. Although Nissan has not given out any other details, the automaker stated that the Versa Sedan 1.6 will be offered with less basic features than the standard models. The Versa Sedan 1.6 goes on sale at Nissan dealers nationwide beginning November 18, 2008.

New Dodge Trazo: Nissan's Versa Sedan Gets Rebadged for South America

The new Dodge Trazesty Trazo is the fruit of Chrysler LLC and Nissan's OEM agreement that was signed in January 2008. Apparently we're not the only ones that think that there's nothing 'Dodge' about the Nissan Versa (Tiida in Europe and Japan) as the American automaker preferred to badge the sedan as the "Trazo by Dodge". As you can see in the image gallery after the jump, Dodge's signature ram logo is nowhere to be found. The Trazo will be offered for sale in select Latin American markets in sedan form only equipped with a 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline and E100 ethanol-capable engine with both automatic and manual transmissions. -Continued

Video: 2009 Nissan 370Z Test Drive

While Nissan is doing its best to keep the new 370Z under covers until the release of the first official pictures on October 29, the Japanese automaker did invite a few car magazines to give them a taste of their new sports coupe last week by allowing selected journalists to drive a lightly camouflaged preproduction prototype model. Among the "chosen ones" was Motor Trend magazine that took the opportunity to shoot an interesting video of their short encounter with the new 370Z. Check out the video right after the jump. -Continued

Thanks for the tip Marcus!