Nissan has begun a long-term project to produce a VW Golf rival, as part of its plans to enter new sectors of the car market and regain ground once occupied by the Nissan Almera.
Confirming that work on the small family car project was already underway, Nissan’s senior vice president Andy Palmer said the project was motivated by Nissan’s goal of becoming a player in 90 per cent of the world’s markets and increasing its current 3 per cent market share of global car sales. Nissan is currently competing in around 84 per cent of the world's markets.
"To date, we have grown by circumnavigating the competition very successfully with cars like the Qashqai, but to go further we will have to tackle the market head on," he said.
"The C segment is an obvious growth area. The Qashqai and Juke will take sales in that market, but tackling it head on means building a car that is better than the VW Golf.
“That’s the challenge we have set ourselves. That project is a long term goal, but it is underway."
Thanks to: Autocar