The mystery of the Cube

Nissan's Head of Corporate Communications, Jeff Fisher, is absolutely adamant. The Cube will not be sold by the importer in Australia.

That's despite Toyota's confirmation it will bring the Rukus into the country for sale from mid-year and it's despite Kia (in a Faustian pact?) selling its Soul in respectable numbers. And it's despite the Cube being spotted in Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs in recent days.

Two independent witnesses have seen the Cube -- wearing Nissan registration plate surrounds, according to one -- on Burwood Road and in Westall Road Clayton. According to the second witness, the vehicle in Clayton was the subject of a photography session or film shoot by a crew in a Dualis.

Fisher admitted that the vehicle might have been out here to shoot a TV commercial for foreign markets, since the new Micra was being filmed for a TV commercial in the full light of day at Docklands -- weeks ahead of its public unveiling in Geneva. Now there was an opportunity missed! But as for any hint that the Cube is here to test the market or any other activity related to a local release, definitely not, according to Fisher.

"I've seen a couple myself actually," he said. "They are grey imports, almost certainly. I'm making a supposition, but we know that there have been several brought in through the wharves and I've seen a couple up and down the Monash [Freeway] myself with trade plates on. Almost certainly they are 'greys'.

"We haven't got them certified -- they're not homologated for sale here. In order for them to be registered, they would have had to have [ADR type approval] and we haven't even applied for it."

As for a possible re-think about launching the Cube in Australia, Fisher poured cold water on that. He felt that Toyota's decision to go with the Rukus for local consumption was one made without consideration of the sales to date for the Kia Soul. And based on the Kia selling an average of around 50 units for each month it has been on sale in Australia, that was not sufficient to support a business case for the Cube.

"We don't have any plans for the Cube. We don't really see it as being viable. We haven't begun any processes to look at getting them here. On those kind of numbers,  and if that market is relatively small -- we believe it is -- there's not the margins in it that we would be looking for."

"We're pretty well catered for in that area of the market -- in light and small cars -- and we still have an option to take a closer look at the Juke, which goes on sale in Europe later this year, in their summer.

"We still have that out there as a longer shot possibility. But with Cube -- not in the plan. If either of them were to make it to first base in terms of the planning procedure, Juke would be more likely to do so."

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