Cheaper Pulsar hatch here in May

Nissan will launch the hatchback version of its born-again Pulsar small car in late May with pricing that could undercut the $19,990 starting point for the sedan.

The razor-sharp positioning has yet to be confirmed and no Nissan executive would comment on the issue at the launch of the Pulsar sedan in Melbourne today.

However, if the Pulsar launch does start below $19,990 it would undercut the list price of every leading hatch in the booming small car category.

It would also dovetail neatly with the price of the SSS hot-hatch, which will launch as part of the range. Its pricing could start under $30,000, under-cutting logical rivals such as the $31,990 Hyundai Veloster turbo.

Mainstream versions of the five-door hatch will be sold with the same 96kW/174Nm 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine as the sedan that goes on-sale this week, with a similar three-level model range to the sedan.

Meanwhile, the SSS will be powered by a 1.6-litre direct-injection turbo-petrol engine producing 140kW and 240Nm.

Both Pulsar bodyshapes are built in Thailand and the hatch’s arrival timing has been put down to both sourcing issue and product planning decisions.

When it does arrive the hatch will account for around 50 per cent of Pulsar sales, according to Nissan’s official estimates, although just what the grand total will be the company isn’t speculating on.

Nissan Australia Managing Director Bill Peffer would only forecast at least quadrupling of sales compared to the rate of the Pulsar’s predecessor (and its replacement back in 2006), the Tiida.

That only equates to 12,000 sales per year, which is only a little more than 25 per cent of what the small car segment leader, the Mazda3, achieved in 2012.

“But I want to be conservative – under-promise and over-deliver,” Mr Peffer said. “We want to be a credible, bona fide player in the segment and we recognise in the last few years we haven’t been.”

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