2012 Nissan Versa Sedan Outsells Competition in Sub-Compact Segment

While it may not be the car most dream to own, the low $10,990 ($11,750 including destination) entry level price tag of the 2012 Nissan Versa sedan seems to have piqued the interest of U.S. buyers looking for a cheap new ride.

According to data released by Nissan today, in August, the first full month of availability of the new Versa sedan, the subcompact model sold of 8,566 units beating all of its theoretical competitors, including the Chevrolet Aveo, Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Mazda 2 and the soon to be replaced, Toyota Yaris.

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Nissan Replaces 150HP 2.0L Diesel with New 130HP 1.6L Diesel in Qashqai

A new and more fuel-efficient but also less powerful 1.6-liter turbo diesel engine is taking the place of the 2.0-liter diesel in the European lineup of the Qashqai and its longer, seven-seat sibling, the Qashqai+2.

The new 1.6-liter diesel delivers 130-horsepower and 320Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque from 2,000rpm to only 1,750rpm, compared to 150HP and 320Nm at 2,000 rpm of the outgoing 2.0 dCi engine.

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NISMO-developed GT-R Makes its Debut in GT3 Racing Series

Nissan’s GT-R GT3 entered its maiden race in the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. Developed by Nissan's tuning and racing division, NISMO, and JR Motorsports, the GT-R competes in the GT3 series which includes production-based models such as Audi's R8, the Porsche 911 and the McLaren MP4-12C. Read more »

2012 Nissan Maxima Receives a Barely Noticeable Refresh, Prices Remain the Same

Nissan's product-redesign blitz continues with the Maxima sedan, which receives a very modest refresh for the 2012 model year.

The cosmetic tweaks on the outside include a different front grille design, restyled rear combination lights, and new 18-inch and 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels plus the addition of two new exterior colors named Java Metallic and Dark Slate.

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Nissan Juke Kuro Limited Special Edition Available in the UK

For certain enthusiasts, Kuro can only mean one thing: Pioneer's now discontinued, but in the minds of many, still the best series of HD television sets to date. For Nissan's UK arm, Kuro is the name of a new special edition of its funky looking Juke small crossover.

Nissan says it borrowed the name from the Japanese word for black as the strictly limited edition provides a new, dark look to the British-built Juke.

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Nissan UK Puts a Price on the Supercharged Micra DIG-S

The new Nissan Micra DIG-S -which stands for “Direct Injection Gasoline – Supercharged”- is available to order in UK with on-the-road prices starting at £11,500. First deliveries will take place on September 1.

The new version of the Micra, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, is powered by a 1.2-liter three-cylinder supercharged gasoline engine delivering an output of 98HP.

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Carlos Ghosn Hints at a GT-R Based Infiniti…Sort Of

Nissan’s luxury offspring, Infiniti, already has a sports car, the G37 coupe. But lately there has been a lot of talk about cooperating with Red Bull now that the latter is considering entering the car-making business.

In addition, Nissan’s boss, Carlos Ghosn, is teasing us with a rather exciting prospect: an Infiniti version of the amazing Nissan GT-R. At least that’s what he hinted at during an interview in CAR magazine.

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Slick Thieves Ride Off with a…Dozen Brand-New Nissans in Canada!

Unless you are enjoying a Fast and Furious flick on the couch, in real life, you rarely hear about car thieves stealing a bunch of vehicles from the same owner.

Yet this happened in the Canadian city of Calgary where some very slick bandits made off with not one, not two but a dozen (!) brand new vehicles from a local Nissan dealership.

The Calgary police said that the thieves broke in the Sunridge Nissan dealership on Sunday , July 24, and stole the keys from 20 different models including sedans, SUVs and trucks, but managed to drive away with "only" 12 vehicles.

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Video: Crazy Nissan 350Z Accident Results in Awesome Parking Job!

An extremely violent accident involving what appears to be a Nissan 350Z (we could be wrong on the model though) that flew over a wall at a parking lot and which could have ended in a drama, surprisingly turned into the most awesome parking job we have ever seen on film. The driver even came out unhurt and checked the car as it was a mere fender bender!

Don’t believe us? Hit the jump and check out the spectacular video for yourself.

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The Real Godzilla: AMS Performance’s 1,309WHP Nissan GT-R Completes ¼ Mile in 9.05 Sec! [Video]

We’ve seen some insanely modified Nissan GT-R R35s, but Chicago-based tuning house AMS Performance, has really lifted the bar with its newest creation, the ALPHA 12.

The heavily tuned Nissan GT-R ALPHA 12, which is still in the development and testing phase, was placed on a dyno where it produced an incredible 1,309-horsepower and 994 lb-ft (1,384Nm) of peak torque at all four wheels!

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Top Gear has a Blast Driving the 2012 Nissan GT-R

One of the highlights in the fourth episode of Top Gear’s 17th season that aired in Britain this past weekend was the test of the 530HP and 612 Nm (451 lb/ft) 2012 Nissan GT-R. Jeremy Clarkson clearly had a blast driving the updated version of Nissan’s twin-turbocharged, four-wheel drive supercar and, unusually for him, almost ran out of expletives. Read more »

The Price of Success: Nissan Raises 2012 Leaf Prices Between $2,420 and $3,530!

Well, that didn’t take long did it? Only a year after launch and while the Leaf is leading the eco-friendly sales race against GM’s Chevrolet Volt, Nissan today announced that it is lifting the base price of the 2012 model year version of its pure-electric hatchback between 7 and 11 percent, depending on the trim grade!

In particular, the entry-level 2012 Leaf SV is now priced at $35,200, or 7.38% more than the 2011MY’s $32,780 sticker. The higher grade Lead SL enters the 2012MY priced at $37,250, an increase of $3,530 or 11.3% more over the 2011MY.

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Rising Yen won’t Hurt Nissan’s Sales, says Ghosn

Nissan CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has predicted that Japan’s second biggest carmaker will achieve its sales targets, despite the yen’s 9.6% climb over the US dollar in the past year. However Ghosn admitted that the strength of the Yen may cause problems: “The high yen is definitely a headwind. What I worry about is not just Nissan, but Japanese manufacturers losing their motivation to maintain production in Japan”. Read more »

Nissan Versa Hatchback Enters 2012MY with Equipment Refinements

After revealing prices on its low-cost 2012 Versa sedan, today Nissan announced pricing on the five-door hatchback version of its sub-compact series. Even though the Japanese company has launched a newer version of the hatchback model in certain markets including China, in the States, the five-door variant continues in the new model year with its first-generation design. Read more »

New Gen Y Buyer Survey Spells Trouble for Detroit

Auto pricing website TrueCar studied the car buying behaviour of four million Gen Y (18 to 27 year-old) over a twenty-four month period and here’s what they found.

Scion took the crown for top brand, with 37.4% of the market and for top model (the tC coupe), with 21.2%, while second place went to Mitsubishi (32.1%) and their Lancer sedan (20.3%).

Mazda was the third most visited brand for Gen Y buyers, though only 17th in terms of model. The top four vehicle choices were Japanese, with a German in seventh place and a South Korean in ninth.

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Video: Nissan LEAF Climbs the Pikes Peak

Last month, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima broke his own record at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with a sub 10 minutes time in a 910-horsepower modified Suzuki SX4 racecar.

Now, Nissan’s first all-electric car, the LEAF, has tackled the 156 turns of the “Race to the Clouds”. Naturally, “Monster” Tajima can rest assured that his record remains safe.

That’s not to say that the LEAF driven by Chad Hord didn’t record a respectable time. After all, 14 minutes and 33 seconds with an average speed of 51.2 mph (82.4 km/h) is not to be laughed at for an EV that used just 46% of its charge to cover the demanding 12.42 miles (20 km) hill climb.

Watch the LEAF climb the Pikes Peak after the jump.

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Nissan Releases Full Pricing of 2012 Versa, Starts from a Low, Low $10,990

According to Nissan, the second generation of its Versa sedan features “the lowest MSRP in America” at $10,990 (not including a destination fee), with the sub note that the company’s aforementioned assessment is based on “MY12 competitors at time of print”.

Some of you will say, we already knew that, and you’re right. But what we did learn today is the pricing of the entire Versa range that includes three more models aside from the cut price, entry-level S trim.

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Caught on Video: Nissan GT-R Crashing into Parked Cars in Moscow

A crazy car crash that took place in Moscow, Russia, on July 6, 2011, was caught on film by a pair of security cameras. The person responsible for the catastrophic scene you see in these aftermath photos that were shot on location is the driver of a black Nissan GT-R.

From what we can tell, the GT-R driver was either street racing with another car or simply trying out the full potential of his high-performance sports coupe on the streets of Moscow. Whatever the case, he failed to steer left after passing a black vehicle from the right and ended up crashing into three parked vehicles.

The force of the impact was so severe that the parked cars were literally thrown into the air as if they toys. Watch the security cam tapes of the accident in the videos after the break.

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U.K.’s Auto Industry to Young People: Be an Engineer!

Twenty-three of the U.K.’s car and component factories have opened their doors to teachers and students alike in a renewed bid to entice young people into automotive and manufacturing engineering. At the annual summit of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Tony Walker – Toyota Motor Manufacturing U.K.’s deputy managing director – said:

“The industry today is hi-tech. There are no oily rags. There are no smoke stacks. It is an inspirational and an aspirational place to be.”

In fact, carmakers are eager to point out just how fun and lucrative engineering can be. It’s all part of the U.K. government’s push to shift its focus away from financial services after the deadly Global Financial Crisis of 2007.

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Nissan Leaf Outsells Chevy Volt in Electric Car Battle During the first half of 2011

The battle for supremacy in the electric car category has begun –even though at present there are only two prime contestants. According to Bloomberg, the Nissan LEAF sold 3,875 cars the first half of the year, compared to 2,745 of GM’s Volt over the same period.

From January through May, the Volt was only 17 cars behind the Leaf, but in the following month, sales of the Volt plunged to just 561 cars, while those of the LEAF took off with a record 1,708 units, giving Nissan’s EV the lead. The LEAF costs $33,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit, while the Volt costs $41,000 before government incentives.

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