SPY PICS: Nissan's next Dualis emerges
New spy shots reveal more of the replacement for Nissan's top-selling small SUV, next year's all-new DualisNissan’s next-generation Dualis first emerged in grainy spy shots last month and now some new close-up images have provided a much better indication of how the final production version will look.
The successor for Nissan’s smash-hit small SUV is due to be revealed globally later this year before going on sale in Australia next year, alongside the third-generation X-TRAIL featuring a much rounder five-door wagon bodyshell, as revealed by the first spy pics two weeks ago.
As evidenced by these pics, the new Dualis will still wear a sharper nose and more heavily sloping rear-end design than the boxier X-TRAIL, along with a more stylised version of the new corporate grille design previewed by the Hi-Cross concept that debuted at the 2012 Geneva motor show.
However, both models will continue to be based on the same chassis architecture – this time the Renault Nissan group’s its all-new Common Module Family (CMF).
The new low-cost platform, which the company hopes will slash production costs on some models by up to 40 per cent, will underpin more than 1.6 million vehicles per annum, covering 14 models (three from Nissan and 11 from Renault, including the new Koleos) built in 10 different countries.
Nissan is yet to advise if it will pass on those cost savings to customers, but engine choices are expected to continue to include (new direct-injection) 2.0-litre petrol and 1.6-litre turbo-diesel options, plus a new supercharged 1.2-litre petrol engine with 85kW and 190Nm of torque to replace Europe’s entry-level petrol 1.6.
As previewed by the 2.0-litre petrol-electric drivetrain in the Hi-Cross, there will also be a plug-in hybrid version of the new Dualis, which first appeared here in 2007 before being facelifted in 2010, but not before 2015 in Europe.
Like the existing Dualis, which is the second most popular model in Australia’s small SUV segment behind the Hyundai ix35, its replacement is expected to remain available in front-wheel drive and AWD form, as well as five-seat and seven-seat configurations.
Expect the new Dualis to make its formal production debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September as the redesigned Qashqai, with the new X-TRAIL to follow at the Tokyo show in November.
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