Story: Ajit Menon M
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
The market for crossover SUVs has been booming the world over. Nissan aimed to capture it with the launch of the Magnite in 2020, and capture it did.
The “New” Nissan Magnite was launched in October 2024 to boost the sales of Nissan in the growing crossover centric market. The “New” is marked in double quotes because you are not getting anything new apart from some minor changes to the exterior. We get a slightly updated front grille and some revisions made to the rear bumper as well. The tail lights are a bit different with new LED lighting elements and the wheels are diamond cut. The car weighs about 80 kg more than the previous model and this can be attributed to the better safety standards that Nissan have provided.
We drove the Nissan Magnite Tekna+ variant and this model is supposed to be the best they have with the other variants being Visia, Visia+, Acenta, N-Connecta and Tekna. The Juke sold in the UK has the same variant names and they must have sold at good rates for Nissan to select these names. The Tekna+ gets a full leather interior which had a brownish orange leather wrapped dashboard and door inserts. Personally, I didn’t like the orange leather colour much because it was too much contrast for my eyes. Something more refined like a dark grey and black would have suited me more for my personal needs. The seats get a leather quilted treatment with Heat Guard Tech and this will dissipate heat keeping the driver cool in summer.
There are no changes to the engine and this Tekna+ variant gets the same 1.0-litre turbocharged engine that develops 100 hp and 160 Nm of torque. There is some lag when you press down on the accelerator and this is nothing but the turbo-lag. While driving through Pune, I felt that the acceleration provided by the car was sufficient but there is a sport-mode button on the gear lever to make the car more responsive.
The Nissan Magnite is a four-star rated product in the Global New Car Assessment Program (GNCAP). It gets the usual safety treatment for all vehicles in its class like airbags, seatbelts, ABS, electronic stability program (ESP), traction control system. It also gets a 360-degree camera while reversing but the image resolution on the screen could be worked upon. The feature I liked personally among safety features was the hill assist. In many junctions, I had the pleasure of using it.
It is surprising that Nissan launched the Magnite Tekna+ without many changes but the one we had before this launch was pretty much complete in terms of features for the price that Nissan charges. I’m pretty sure the designers of the Magnite were thinking “why fix it if it ain’t broke” while designing this. The Nissan Magnite Tekna+ can be yours for Rs 11.5 lakh rupees, ex-showroom.
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