Nissan bringing 3 minis to US market in 2008
As gas prices hit $3.60 a gallon in southeast Michigan this week the coming onslaught of mini-cars appears to be growing. The latest to jump into the fray appears to be Nissan with plans to bring over three minis from Japan starting in the second half of 2008. First out the chute should be the redesigned version of the Cube which has been on sale in the Japan for several years already.
According the Japanese paper Nikkei, at least one of the minis is likely to be priced under $10,000. The new Cube is evidently being designed for sales in North America and possibly Europe in addition to Asia. We already know that Ford is bringing the US a model based on the Mazda2, GM will likely bring out a model based on one of the Triplets and Chrysler is trying to finalize a deal with Chery to produce a small car in China. With Smart, and possibly Toyota in the mix, we will have all kinds of choices in the next couple of years.
[Source: MotorAuthority]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
small-wee-wee 1:36PM (5/24/2007)
That looks like a lot of car for 10-11k.
Reply
Mattias 3:17PM (5/24/2007)
I like the CUBE. The only CUBE like car on the CUBE's platforme they give us here in Europe is the Renault Modus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Modus
I'd prefer the CUBE. With the 77kW 1.5dCi and electrical AWD please! Thank you, Carlos!
Reply
MikeJ 7:36AM (5/25/2007)
All these Jap and US mini cars, WHERE ARE THE EUROPEANS?
VW, do you hear me?
Reply
Mattias 10:16AM (5/25/2007)
#3: Renault, Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Lancia and Opel have some very popular European, interesting and cool minicars. Volkswagens' are currently a bit boring so you should not think that the absence of cool VW minicar means the absence of cool European minicars.
Reply
AMcA 9:43PM (5/25/2007)
I'll tell you where the Europeans are, Mike.
They know that Americans like big cars. They know that tastes like these don't change quickly. They have stratospheric labor costs, and the dollar is weak.
So they're on the sidelines for the moment.
Reply
Spule 4 10:21PM (5/25/2007)
#5 has it exactly, maybe if the Euro was not killing the dollar now.
Also, check out the two types for invalids. My father just bought a wheelchair van for my mother. His smallest options were a Toyota Previa or Chrysler T/C conversion. He got the Toyota, and a bill for well over $50K.
Nissan, if you are reading this, I bet if you do some research you may find a market for an efficient car to give someone mobility, also one that does not cost a fortune in conversion costs!
Reply
Spule 4 10:24PM (5/25/2007)
Sorry, forgot the link to the photos with the two cars with mobility options:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/nissan-cube/
Reply
George Krpan 11:37PM (5/26/2007)
Good time to bring in the Cube now that the Box (Scion xB) has been replaced by it's bloated successor.
I've seen the Cube. I didn't think it was as cool as the first xB.
A less than $10,000 car? What's that saying about where they see our economy is heading?
How can Nissan, and not the other car makers, respond so quickly to sell cars here that weren't designed for this market?
Reply