While crossovers have become the most popular car category of the past few years, the latest trend among the automakers – not their models – is to create new subdivisions. Not so many towards the luxury side because that market praises different kinds of values, but low-cost ones. Most companies got impressed with how Dacia managed to grow in the latest years, and this is why you’ll see more of those in the near future. But if you think the reborn Datsun was only Nissan’s first step in this path, this article’s vehicle will prove you wrong.
Venucia’s existance is another fruit of the Chinese automotive laws. Nissan not only had to start a joint-venture, with the local Dongfeng, as these also needed to create a whole new low-cost division, exclusively to operate at that market. But the Japanese managed to find a clever way to deal with such demands: if the matter was to work with cheap cars, what could be cheaper than “recycling” old cars whose production was just stopped everywhere else? This is why you’ll find D50 and R50 remind you so much of Tiida sedan and hatchback: they’ve only got a small facelift in order to start this new incarnation. The only exception is e30, which didn’t want to wait until the original Leaf ended its lifecycle elsewhere.
If R30’s single official picture released so far isn’t helping much, that redesigned front fascia is trying to hide a pre-facelift, current-generation March/Micra. The original Nissan supermini used its midlife refresh to improve in comfort and technology, in order to take European rivals like Ford Fiesta and Opel Corsa. So the reason why R30 appears only now (and only in China, like the other Venucias) is to take the low-cost public left alone by the outgoing hatchback. Just like that one, the new hatchback relies mostly on rational arguments, such as combining nice internal room and easy handling to low consumption rates and attractive pricing – it’ll be a very important help for Venucia to achieve the goal of a 50% sales increase from this year to 2013.
(There are no other official pictures available)
This hatchback is an interesting example because it received a much heavier facelift than the other Venucias. It’s still easy to spot a March on it, but it’s great to see that Venucia sprung for renewed front, side and rear sections. The first one invests on square lines and sharp angles so as to look better and even sportier than what Datsun has been using (not to mention what was done to the Renault brother, Pulse). Besides, dropping March’s round lines makes R30 more imponent and takes advantage of square designs aging better. The doors got slightly retouched in order to follow the rear’s all-new design: the attention is taken not only by the bigger headlights as also by the glass tailgate, which could even remind of Volvo C30’s if it didn’t use such enormous hinges.
Unfortunately, the only way to get any idea of R30’s cabin, just like of its rear design, is to search for unofficial pictures. But since Venucia made such effort with the exterior, this car is very likely to feature a refreshed cabin as well. Opening the hood, in turn, reveals a four-cylinder, 1.2L gasoline engine, whose output wasn’t informed yet – it’ll probably be paired to a five-speed manual transmission. However, the cost-efficient proposal that appears all over this car shouldn’t lead you to expect impressive performances. Venucia R30 had its first official appearance during this year’s Beijing Auto Show, and will have its bookings started this month. The cheapest trim level is expected to start at 50,000 RMB.