All-new Nissan Livina visits GIIAS

KUALA LUMPUR: Nissan first introduced the all-new Livina in Indonesia earlier this year in February. However, it’s for the first time many are getting to see it up close.

The Nissan Livian hails from the Low MPV segment and is based on the Mitsubishi Xpander. Part of this segment are cars like Suzuki Ertiga, Toyota Avanza, Honda Mobilio, and Daihatsu Xenia. Of course, there are other players like Toyota Rush, Honda Mobilio, and Daihatsu Terios as well, but they belong to the mid MPV segment.

Now, if you are thinking as to why would Nissan rebadge a Mitsubishi? Well, that’s because it is a significant shareholder in the later and both the auto brands are part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance under which they all share resources and more.

Most of the design elements of the Xpander are carried forward in the new Livina; however, Nissan has slightly tweaked the Dynamic Shield face of the former a bit.

So, what all has been revised by Nissan? Let’s find out -

• While the Livina features the same three-tier lighting setup, the LED DRL design is changed
• The trademark chrome strips that gave the Xpander a sunken cheek look is nowhere to be seen
• The grille here is bowel-shared and not X-shaped as seen in Mistubishi’s MPV, thus looking like Nissan’s very own V-Motion nose

• The lower bumper here gets angular fog lamps and a full-width silver lip vs. the Xpander’s round fog lamps
• The front lip is connected to the side skirts done in silver
• Nissan Livina gets round and nor squared-off front wheel arches as seen in Mitsubishi
• Though the taillight shape remains the same, the LED signature graphics are unique to Nissan MPV
• The diffuser here is done in silver and is a two-piece setup

Open the hood, and you’ll find the same mill resting, that’s a 1.5-litre unit churning out a maximum power of 104 PS along with a peak torque of 141 Nm at 4,000 rpm. Sending power to the wheels is either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic gearbox. The car stands on 16-inch wheels and is 205 mm from the ground.

The new Nissan Livina specs sheet include a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, colour multi-info display with eco indicator, LED DRLs, 12V power outlets for each row, keyless entry with push start, tilt and telescopic steering, 16-inch two-tone alloys, and reverse camera.

The new Nissan Livina lineup consists of five variants - E MT, EL MT, EL AT, VE AT, and VL AT. All the models come with ABS/EBD and dual SRS airbags.