If you’re used to follow worldwide car news, your answer is yes. This is, indeed, the very same sedan that Nissan showed as Almera, earlier this year in Thailand. It’s a small facelift for a vehicle which manages to show the bad side of taking inspiration from bigger brothers: it seems like the designers were at their best when concocting the current Maxima and Altima, started to get tired at Sentra’s time, and by the time they reached Versa were in a terrible mood. It’s actually impressive that despite using many of the very same elements seen on those vehicles, like smooth body volumes paired to angular-cornered items, all that Infiniti-inspired sporty elegance was simply lost in this “scale reduction”.
The current Versa’s first facelift turns interesting because it managed to take Nissan’s revised design language to the exact same situation. Being a narrowed and verticalized version of what is seen on Sentra and Altima took the front fascia miles away from looking imponent, while the sides stuck to a bad glass-metal proportion and end on a rear which is borderline ridiculous. Its slightly-redesigned bumper is combined to the lumpy spoiler showed in these pictures, as if this section didn’t already look excessively tall and square at the center and low and arched at the corners. Even though the boomerang-shaped headlights stand for Versa’s biggest changes for 2015, Nissan also sprung for some internal updates.
The North-American vehicle will carry over its four trim levels (S, S Plus, SV and SL), but adding Bluetooth connectivity, gauge-cluster lighting in white LEDs and steering-wheel audio controls as standard for all of them, along with a few aesthetic nips and tucks. SL’s Technology package was improved with NissanConnect, which is a navigation system with mobile apps, and a set of 15” wheels borrowed from the younger brother Versa Note. Since being the cheapest car sold at that country is extremely important for a supermini – specially if it belongs to that last aforementioned group –, the Japanese automaker is expected to keep Versa’s prices as close to the outgoing model-year’s as possible.
Versa continues to shout and scream how cost-focused it is when you open its hood. Not in ways like lacking so much sound-deadening material that its engine turned interesting to listen to, though: the four-cylinder 1.6L unit carries over is 109 hp and 107 lb-ft and the fact of being its only option. But you still get a say on the gearboxes: the five-speed manual can be upgraded for a four-speed automatic on the S trim, and gives the standard position to a CVT transmission on S Plus, SV and SL. On the other hand, the perks of being so “Versa-y” appear at the fuel numbers, besides of the roomy cabin: EPA ratings state 13.2 kpl city and 17 kpl highway, when equipped with CVT.