2014 Nissan Sentra Sl on 2040-cars

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Nissan-Dongfeng JV reveals Venucia VOW concept in Shanghai

Among the dozens of automakers pouring in to the Shanghai Motor Show this week to showcase their latest wares, this one comes from a brand you may never have heard of. It's called Venucia, and it's the product of a joint venture between Nissan and Chinese automaker Dongfeng. Today Venucia has unveiled the VOW Concept, a sporty-looking crossover designed to appeal to young Chinese buyers and previewed in a teaser rendering last week. The design is said to have been inspired by the Salar de Uyuni plateau in the Bolivian Andes, but reminds us a bit of the Lamborghini Urus and Mitsubishi XR-PHEV concepts. And that's no bad thing. Technical details are few and far between, but the name VOW apparently stands for "Venucia Over Wonder," that brand name itself having been derived from the Roman diety Venus. Beyond that we couldn't tell you any more, but even if the VOW concept gets put into production, the chances are slim to none that any version would ever reach a showroom on our side of the pond in the foreseeable future. Venucia debuts VOW Concept at Auto Shanghai 2015 SHANGHAI, China – Venucia, a local brand by Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-PV), the passenger vehicle business unit of Nissan's joint venture in China, unveiled the VOW Concept at Auto Shanghai 2015. VOW Concept, a brand new trendy sport crossover concept by Venucia, was developed for the young generations. VOW is the abbreviation of "Venucia Over Wonder," meaning a complete breakthrough in excellence. The forward thinking and bold design is paired with a bright blue body inspired by Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni, a high plateau near the crest of the Andes Mountains with captive fresh and saltwater lakes and the world's largest salt flat. VOW Concept conjures up a new balance of dynamic excellence and elegance. "With the VOW Concept, Venucia is going directly to the young generations and listening to what they have to say about their futures, their hopes and what inspires them. We are determined to bring forward a young and fresh brand that continues to challenge the status quo," said Zhou Xianpeng, DFL-PV deputy managing director. "We believe Venucia will lead future trends as an influencer, and enhance its place in the automotive market in China." About Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-PV) Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company is a business unit of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., Nissan's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd.

2013 Nissan Pathfinder: March 2013

Over the past few months, we've talked a lot about how our long-term 2013 Nissan Pathfinder functions as a daily-driver, long-hauler and all-weather warrior. And so far, it's earning high praise from most of us for being a well-rounded, pleasant vehicle in these regards. But the vast majority of people who actually go out and buy a Pathfinder will do so because of its people-and-stuff-carrying abilities. Nissan specifically engineered the new Pathfinder to be a softer, more widely appealing crossover than the sort of rugged SUV that it was before, and in doing so, the company is hoping its new CUV will find homes in the garages of many American families.
We needed to get some family impressions of the new Pathfinder, and fast.
Thing is, many of us Autobloggers live the kid-free life - at least that's true of most of us in the Detroit area where the Pathfinder currently resides. We have no doubts that the Pathfinder will get a proper family road trip workout from west coast editor Michael Harley after it shuffles over to the left side of the country, and it might also do a jaunt to North Carolina this summer with executive editor Chris Paukert and his family before it leaves the area, but in the meantime, we needed to get some family impressions of the new Pathfinder, and fast.

Datsun's lackluster initial sales fall below Tata Nano

When Tata introduced the Nano back in 2008, everyone was amazed at how cheap it was. They called it a game changer, but no game was changed. In fact, it took Tata five years to sell the 250,000 units it had the capacity to build in a single year. As it turns out, even buyers in what economists call "developing markets" like India aren't necessarily interested in buying an ultra-cheap automobile. And now it appears that Nissan may be falling into the same trap.
A little over a year ago, Nissan revived its old moniker Datsun to serve as a budget brand - similar to what ally Renault did with Dacia. Its lineup (consisting of models like the Go hatchback, Go+ minivan, On-Do sedan and Mi-Do hatch) is largely based on old architecture, packaged with little more than basic equipment and sold at rock-bottom prices. But Bloomberg reports that, even in the brand's core markets like India and Indonesia, the new Datsuns haven't been selling.
According to local industry figures, Datsun has sold fewer than 10,000 units of its $5,100 Go hatchbacks in India since its introduction back in March. Maruti Suzuki, by comparison, sells twice that many of its similarly priced Alto hatchbacks every month. In fact, after peaking in April, Datsun only sold 607 units in India this past July, dipping 77 percent to drop below even the number of Nanos which Tata sold that month.