Nissan India to launch updated Evalia MPV tomorrow

Although a couple of years old in India, the Nissan Evalia MPV is failing to find takers. Nissan India has gotten back to the drawing board to come up with an updated version of the Evalia, with the MPV's launch slated for tomorrow. Among other things, the updated Evalia MPV will come with a new top-end variant dubbed the XV-S. 

Priced at 10.55 lakh rupees, ex-showroom Delhi, the Nissan Evalia XV-S is pricier than the XV variant by 30,000 rupees. For the additional sum of money, larger 15 inch rims and a rear wash-wipe system will be offered as standard. Other variants of the Evalia (below XV) are likely to get the following new features:

• Open-able window for the 2nd row 
• Closed glove box
• Captain seats for the second row
• Roof mounted AC vents

All these features have been added to the Evalia after gauging customer feedback. It remains unclear as to whether all variants of the MPV would get the new features. The 1.5 liter K9K turbo diesel engine producing 85 PS-200 Nm and the five speed manual gearbox combination, driving the front wheels of the MPV will continue unchanged on the Evalia.

The Evalia's badge engineered sibling, the Ashok Leyland Stile, has already been launched in India, with a few of the aforementioned features. With the launch of the updated Evalia, Nissan India will be hoping that the updated version gains the much needed traction at the hustings. 

The Nissan Evalia, known as the NV200 globally, is available in both passenger and cargo carrying versions for international markets. For the Indian market, a cargo carrying version will not be made available in order to distinguish the Nissan Evalia from the recently-launched Ashok Leyland Stile. 

The Nissan Evalia, quite unlike the Ashok Leyland Stile, is aimed at the family MPV buyer and is accordingly sold through Nissan dealerships. Also, the MPV is priced well above the Stile and this differentiating approach will continue with the facelifted version as well. Both MPVs are built at Renault-Nissan's Oragadam factory.