"The second coming"

Well,the strongest rumour yet that the mighty Micra is making a well overdue return to our shores. Big aricle in Sydney's Telegraph this morning.Micra's are to be sourced from Japan instead of UK, better exchange rate etc. Personally I prefer the shape of the good old K11 but I could be slightly biased on that issue.

The baby Nissan Micra is looking good for a second bid for success in Australia.

The tiny tot was too compact and too costly for local buyers in the 1990s. But Nissan Australia believes it could now surf the rising tide of light car sales. The breakthrough on the Micra front is production and price, as Nissan is now building the car in Japan.

Until now, Micra was only built in Britain and exchange rates meant it would have had a totally uncompetitive pricetag in the $18,000 range. "Sourcing from Japan is now possible. So we might be able to get the car from there for Australia," Nissan Australia spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher says.

"It makes sense to have another look at the Micra. It is something that has come and gone many times over the past few years, when our major issue has been the right price and specification."

A new Micra was recently spotted in Sydney and Fletcher says cars have been brought to Australia for assessment, although she will not confirm anything as detailed as customer research clinics.

Still, Nissan is having trouble getting the all-new Tiida accepted as the replacement for the long-running Pulsar and the Micra would give it a second contender.

The Micra move comes despite the original failure of the car, when it and the Toyota Starlet were tried but failed to win enough friends down under. Both cars were smaller than the Corolla and Pulsar sold at the time, but Fletcher says the problem was pricing.

"It was an issue, sourcing the vehicle from Europe," she says. "We were at the top end of the price. We learned a lot about that segment from that."
Since then the Micra has been totally overhauled, with a bigger and funkier body. It also comes with both 1.2- and 1.4-litre engines.
In Europe there is also a metal-roofed convertible model, the Micra C+C, which was designed and developed to compete with the Peugeot 206. But the Micra still sits in the "light" class, which would put it up against rivals including the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris and the latest Korean-made Holden Barinas.

"It's been a very popular vehicle in Europe with a lot of success," Fletcher says.

"Given the growth in the light car segment, it would be very timely if we could offer it for sale here in Australia. It has been an outstanding success in Europe."

Japanese production began last year and that was when Nissan Australia decided to have a close, fresh look.

But there is still no solid plan, and details including a potential price and a start date for deliveries are a long way from settled.

"I wouldn't think it would be possible to get it this year, even if it is available," she says.

"We're negotiating to see if the business plan can work. If we can get the vehicle at the right price with the right equipment.

"That segment is very tough and it is very interesting and mixed. It would have to be within that segment somewhere, but exact pricing would depend on the specification."

Why are they hesitating? It's so damn frustrating and ridiculous, the pricing clause...we all know you get what you pay for, if you want a crappy hyundai, you'll pay $14,000, and you'll be upgrading within 5 years. If they can put the quality into this new model, like they did with the K11, people won't be worried about paying an extra $2000-3000 for it. Interest rates are low. Man, it's so frustrating to read stuff like this.

About time. Hopefully they can make it work.



Well because they don't want to expend a bucket of money and effort and lose money or not make it worthwhile just like with the k11. The k11 had the quality etc, but stupid average aussies don't know that and don't have the foresight to pay for that, so Nissan lost out. We are dealing with a country full of stupid average aussies :) Nissan need to make sure this is going to work out for them. But yeah I totally agree with you micragirl - its very frustrating and amusing heh.

Why wouldn't it sell well? Look at the Swift, it would be competing with cars like that. And i don't no about the rest of Australia but they are everywhere in Brisbane,Fuel will keep going up and so will small car sales.

I think the K12's styling might not be accepted in australia.

I honestly think the K12 has about a 20% chance of sucess. Purely because of its styling. A more attractive small car would be the Nissan NOTE. I think its a much, much better looking car than the K12. (but its still quite fugly)




But still, I wouldn't give it a very high chance of sucess in our market. Australians just aren't ready for the styling trends coming from Japan.

I agree with Yom. I think a lot of aussies want fast/aggressive/sporty kind of looking small cars. But there are also a lot of people who want cute looking small cars..

I don't think the K12 would take off all that well to be honest here either. I think it might do allright, certainly better than the last effort, being sourced from Japan is much smart.. But I don't think sales of K12s would go through the roof or anywhere near it.

At least if its sourced from Japan we won't get the HUGE UK number plate holder front bumpers which we don't need for our smaller number plates.

Talking about cute the Honda Jazz doesn't seem to have any problems with sales,I think it would do fine and get better along the way.

Well thats just it.. If I was given the option between a K12 micra and a Jazz I'm afraid I'd have to take the honda.

Especially if it had the 1.5L vtec motor. What an absolute gem of a motor.

I think the Note has a better chance of being made into a sporty looking car than the K12 micra. The Note has nice clean, sharp and wel defined lines. Not the silly overthought curves on the K12.

Yeah new grille, bumpers and maybe some skirts and wheels and the note could probably look reasonably good.

I can see the appeal of the K12 to a lot of people who want cute, funky cars though. But I just don't think that's what the majority of Australians will go for.

http://www2.nissan.co.jp/NOTE/E11/0501/CONCEPT/main1.html

Thats the Nissan japan NOTE page. The presentation movie is really cool. The song is quite catchy!!!

lol autech to the rescue.. I think

http://www2.nissan.co.jp/NOTE/E11/0501/RIDER/

My personal opinion: The Micra K12 is a good town run-around. The steering is very light, ideal for parking. The engines are quite spritely if a little harsh sounding when pushed, the 1.4 is the better option, and they do handle quite well.
However, they don't have a well built 'quality' well screwed together feel. The interior is particularly cheap and tacky, with ill fitting panels and 'nasty' low quality plastic trims.

A total contrast is the Note. Built in the same factory, they are worlds apart. The Note looks kind of quirky with it's big endearing smile. It is obviously bigger on the outside than the Micra, but inside it seems even bigger than it appears outside. It also feels so much better put together. Everything feels much more solid. It's quieter inside too which helps with the quality feel. The 1.6 pulls well and the handling is good.

Obviously the Note is more expensive than the Micra and would probably appeal to a more 'grown-up' type of customer.

"You pays your money and takes your choice" as the saying goes.....

Well both the K12 and the Note leave me for cold but guess my age demographics is not what they would be aiming for.
Agree Honda Jazz is more to my liking and having seen inside them the space utilisation is amazing.
I will stick to what I have as I have seen nothing yet that would persude me to change. Maybe a Cooper S but at that price forget it.
If I won Tatts lotto would still keep the Micras but there would be a RX8 sitting in the driveway as well after Laurie had done a few mods to it!!Snap, crackle, pop !
His humble RX 7 came third in one race but in the second one gearbox failed and all he had was 5th. gear which made it a bit difficult.

Hey I don't mind that NOTE Rider.. That's yeah what I was kind of picturing in terms of fixing the NOTE up.

ugh, that note is nice, but i just noticed its got Tiida door styling, bleh,

finger crossed for a K13

Alex

Yeah good call White Knight.

I'm a bit the same. If I won the lotto, would still kep blue monster, just probably go a bit more berzerk once again hah! Ultimately, I want to get a HK11 2000 model micra over here with auto-pop-in mirrors, large factory crystal headlights, electric power steering, pearl white paint etc and drop my mechanicals into that shell.

The only other thing I wouldn't mind is something like a brand new maxima Ti just to punt around in reliably/smoothly when the Fairmont gets a bit older.

"However, they don't have a well built 'quality' well screwed together feel. The interior is particularly cheap and tacky, with ill fitting panels and 'nasty' low quality plastic trims."

Apparently the Aussie version is being manufactured in Japan, perhaps their build quality will be better?

Yeah the K12 I sat in in Tokyo was quite refined.

Just perusing the Nissan Japan site and there doesnt seem to be a 3dr k12 model anymore?

http://www.nissan.co.nz/vehicles/micra/index.php
Only 5dr models sold new here but 3dr 2nd hand jap imports are available.

There was a 3dr K12 in 2002.
http://catalogue.carview.co.jp/NISSAN/MARCH/2002/specifications.asp
Here are some pictures of 3dr models
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Nissan/photos/a-55290249/p-21305973/k-231257.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Nissan/photos/a-57380681/p-21762651/k-231257.htm
By 2005 it had been dropped from the range
http://catalogue.carview.co.jp/NISSAN/MARCH/2005/specifications.asp

In that photo of the 2 K12s on the Nissan NZ web site, I kind of like the back of the K12s. I reckon I could be converted if they had some more aggressive sporty (less cute) looking headlights or something. More like the swift headlights etc.

that nissan australia spokeswoman said the k12 has a "bigger body", but it is actually shorter than the k11. its still a small car. which is a good thing. its just quite tall.
surely if they would be getting it from japan then it wouldnt be a micra anyway it would be a march. why do they use the word micra, would just confuse thing when they could say we have a new car its called the march. the march sr, a 1.2 108bhp would be the nice model to get in australia if they imported them.

Maybe nissan will bring out some small performance cars like this?
Does anybody no much about? I love it.

i thought that was the design prototype SR for the tiida? or am I wrong again? I think we'd all have one of these.....

I recall something like that too,but then they brought the Tiida out so was a it confused.

Thats the nissan sport concept.

I dunno whats happening with the Tiida. Its not selling very well at all.

At the moment I guess there's a possibility the Tiida may have a VERY short life here. Depends on what the Europeans get to replace the N16 Almera (Pulsar).

The tiida's woes are really what will stop a Nissan made micra-sized car to be released within the next 2 years, IMO.

the 1st replacement for our almera is the new note. hoping its not the last though. surely they will make a sporty coupe. similar to the concept above. it needs to be done. fitted with a turbo charged version of the hr16de would be ideal.

Really? The Note doesnt seem to have anywhere near the luggage space the Almera offered... So you guys are expecting another model I guess.

yeah expecting something new. but not for a year or so.
next release is quagshi or whatever its called. which is another almera replacement, but more mpv/suv/ kind of look. not interested anyway.
at the moment we can still get the almera and primera so they are not really hurrying.