I think the problem with Nissan is, other than its two ‘sports’ cars (370Z and GT-R), their mainstream range is un-inspirational at best.
Infact all their mainstream models seem to be underwhelming and rather ‘past their best’.
The Qashqai and Juke are getting very long in the tooth now and look and feel dated compared to other manufacturer’s more contemorary cross-SUV/ SUV’s. The Micra never really recovered from its awful ‘frog’ design a few years ago. The revised X-Trail was somewhat behind the times even at its launch.
Their upmarket ‘Infiniti’ range is better but hardly a mainstream volume suppler. Also they are pulling Infiniti out of Western Europe anyway.
The tie-up with Renault doesn’t seem to have helped Nissan as much as it has Renault, who seem to be updating models on a more frequent basis and producing cars with more about them. I am surprised they haven’t gone down the road of producing ‘joint’ cars on the one production line and then just badging them Renault or Nissan according to local markets or customer demand.
At Motability’s ‘Big Event’ in Birmingham, my young nephew summed Nissan up pretty accurately when he said their cars were ‘the sort of boring cars old people drive’!
Until they have a complete image change and produce new exciting models, I fear Nissan will remain in the doldrums – not good for Sunderland and Nissan at all. They really do need to take huge steps forward to catch up with the other Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Mazda etc.