Trail King

The X-Trail will be the next launch from Nissan as it tries to resuscitate the brand in India with a marque that Indians are very familiar with

- Yogendra Pratap

Nissan has already announced its medium term strategy for India and that includes a C-segment SUV to take on the likes of the Hyundai Creta and the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. In the past it has tried to compete in this segment with the likes of the Kicks and the Terrano, which was essentially a rebadged Duster. This time though it will not just be a rebadged Duster but a vehicle with its own identity though sharing its underpinnings with its sibling from its alliance partner Renault. This will also be offered as a 3 row SUV with an extended wheelbases and these two SUVs will be complemented by a small electric car.

However, in the meantime Nissan has decided to offer a couple of larger SUVS from its impressive portfolio and while the topend flagship model is yet to be decided with the choice between the Patrol and the Pathfinder, the X-Trail has been confirmed to be imported as a CBU and sold in India starting early next year.

I have had a lot of experience with the X-Trail that has evolved with its various generations over the years. When it was first launched in India nearly 20 years back I drove it around Pune and did a couple of Pune-Mumbai trips with it. It was then an essentially Japanese car, light and agile, a very efficient 2.2-litre diesel engine and of course had AWD capability. I next drove the X-Trail when it was somewhat of a Korean/European car, being based on the Renault platform now and took it up to Khardungla. The third generation X-Trail I drove as the Nissan Rogue when we did our North America coast-to-coast drive. I loved both the first and the third generation cars and was eager to experience the now 4th generation X-Trail when the opportunity to drive it presented itself in Japan.