Automotive World - Japan: Nissan X-Trail 20GT announced, first domestic brand diesel car for six years

Japan: Nissan X-Trail 20GT announced, first domestic brand diesel car for six years

By: Glenn Brooks, Friday, September 05, 2008, AutomotiveWorld.com

Nissan, which next year plans to similarly test the water in the US with a compression-ignition engined Maxima, is set to release a diesel version of the X-Trail SUV in Japan.

The new X-Trail 20GT, which goes on sale on 18 September, has been designed expressly for the home market. The 2.0-litre I4 turbocharged 'M9R' engine, a modified version of an existing Renault Nissan Alliance unit, is the first from any OEM to meet Japan's new emissions standards.

The unit's torque figure is claimed to be 360Nm, with stated power of 170hp (127kW).

The Japanese public has long been alarmed by media reports of the dangers of particulates, so Nissan has a major marketing challenge ahead if it wishes to change opinions. In Tokyo, the former mayor, a popular man, loudly and constantly denounced diesel vehicles as noisy, smelly and dangerous. To this day, many Japanese pedestrians wear anti-pollution masks at all times, fearing lung damage from truck and bus exhausts.

Nissan will sell the new version of the X-Trail for ¥2,999,850 (US$27,710) and has set a modest sales target of 100 units a month. The only other diesel passenger vehicle available in Japan, the Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI, has sold at the same level, the importer has told Reuters. The newswire also claims that Volkswagen is looking to launch an unnamed model in Japan in 2009.

The second generation of the Nissan X-Trail, which is built at the OEM's Kyushu plant, had its world premiere at the Geneva motor show 18 months ago. Japanese sales started in September 2007. Build in China is due to commence in October, with the vehicle also set to be made at Nissan's forthcoming St Petersburg plant in 2009.

Nissan claims the following features have been incorporated in the quest for low emissions:

Common rail system
EGR cooler
Diesel particulate filter (DPF)
Lean NOx Trap catalysts (LNT)
Double swirl port

Noise and Vibration reduction measures, meanwhile, are stated as follows:

Piezo injector
Balancer shaft
Highly Rigid Chassis
Highly Rigid Engine Mount Brackets
Sound insulation glass

Under Japan's forthcoming Post New Long-Term Regulation, permitted levels of NOx have been reduced by 47% and the values of PM (particulate matter) by 64% from those of the existing New Long-Term Regulation which has been in effect since 2005. Both are for vehicles weighing more than 1,265kg.

All new models sold in Japan must be compliant with the rules of Post New Long-Term Regulation as at 1 October 2009. Existing models and imported vehicles have until 1 September 2010 to meet the laws.

Published on Friday, September 05, 2008