It might be based on the same platform as the 2026 Renault Duster, the Nissan Tekton is unique in its own aggressive and rugged way
It’s been quite a while since Nissan has been chugging along with the Magnite as its bread and butter product in India. Recently, to expand their portfolio, they brought over the Gravite MPV and now they’re properly entering the intense mid-size monocoque SUV space with the Tekton. Introductory prices range from Rs 10.49 lakh to Rs 18.59 lakh (ex-showroom) and it can be had in the Visia, Visia+, Acenta, N-Connecta, Tekna and Tekna+ variants. Sure, it is based on the same platform as the 2026 Renault Duster, but as far as first impressions are concerned it gets its own unique identity.
The biggest personality differentiator to the Duster is immediately noticeable on how it looks on the outside. It looks properly butch and muscular, and the front fascia takes some inspiration from its larger sibling sold abroad, the Patrol with the horizontal slats, wide grille, and wraparound connected LED DRLs sitting above the LED headlights. Further adding some muscle is the upright, sculpted and tall bonnet, as well as a chunky set of bumpers.
Continuing the strong presence in the Nissan Tekton is the side profile with nicely flared haunches, prominent body cladding and usable roof rails, complemented by 18-inch alloy wheels. Like the Duster, the rear door handles are on the C-pillar. Heading towards the rear, there’s a sporty look courtesy of the roof-mounted spoiler, thick cladding, a raked rear windshield, as well as C-shaped LED tail lights connected by a sleek lighting strip. A faux skid plate adds some ruggedness to the overall design. As far as colour options are concerned, it can be had in the Pearl White, Blade Silver, Onyx Black, Moonbow Gray, Flare Garnet Red and Indigo Blue choice of monotone shades. As for dual-tone options, it can be had in all of the above shades except the Onyx Black option.
Inside, you’re greeted to a fairly simple, yet contemporary layered dashboard design, filled with an adequate amount of physical controls, and plenty of premium soft-touch materials. Taking centre stage is the 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster integrated together. As for boot capacity, you get 700 litres up to the roof with all seats up, and expands to 1,789 litres with the rear seats down.
Since it is based on the same platform as the Duster, the Nissan Tekton is loaded to the gills in terms of features onboard such as Google UI built-in, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, wireless phone charging pad, 48-colour ambient lighting, automatic headlamps, an electric panoramic sunroof, six-way powered and ventilated front seats with manual lumbar support, a six-speaker audio system, dual-zone climate control, a powered tail gate, and two Type-C USB charging ports. Passenger safety will be taken care of by things like six airbags, a 360-degree camera with parking sensors, electronic stability control, hill hold assist, and an electronic parking brake with auto-hold, and more importantly, Level 2 ADAS suite.
Unsurprisingly, the Nissan Tekton and the Renault Duster share the same choice of hearts. That includes a 100-hp 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, exclusively paired to a six-speed manual gearbox, and a 163-hp 1.3-litre turbo-petrol unit with the option of a six-speed manual and six-speed DCT automatic gearbox option. It is yet to be seen whether the Duster’s 160-hp 1.8-litre strong-hybrid powertrain paired with an e-CVT automatic option will also be offered in the Tekton, but we expect updates on that to happen once the prices of the strong-hybrid Duster come out later this year. The electric element for this unit also includes a 1.4-kWh battery pack that is claimed to allow up to 80 per cent of driving in pure EV mode in the city.
Deliveries for the Nissan Tekton begin on 20 July, 2026. That’s not all for Nissan as they’ve confirmed a new offering will show up in the first quarter of 2027. That’s for the future, as in the presence, the Tekton has quite a bit of competition as aside from its cousin, the Renault Duster it has to contend with the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Victoris, Tata Sierra, Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, Honda Elevate and the MG Astor. Stay tuned to this space for our driving impressions on the Nissan Tekton as we’ll be soon getting our hands on it.
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