The Nissan Extrem show car borrows design details from the GT-R and 370Z.
Nissan is going to Extrem lengths in its bid to plant its flag in the booming Brazilian market.
That’s the name of its new concept hatchback – the first show car the Japanese maker has ever developed specifically for Brazil, now the world’s third-largest national automotive market. Don’t be surprised to see elements of the Nissan Extrem show up in production form once the maker’s new assembly plant near Rio starts rolling in late 2013.
The 2+2 was developed by Nissan’s advanced styling studio in Santa Monica, California, Nissan Design America, or NDA. But it’s specifically targeted at Brazil, which has seen some of the fastest automotive sales growth in the world in recent years, tracking just behind the fast-paced Chinese market.
Described by Nissan global design director Shiro Nakamura as “high character,” the Nissan Extrem looks a bit like the love child of a Murano and Hyundai Veloster.
While there are no plans to produce the Extrem, Nissan hints it will influence future Brazilian products.
“We call it Baby Beast,” explained NDA’s Robert Bauer, the senior designer on the project. “We see it as an urban rally car, a tough little street fighter that can handle the urban jungle with agility and confidence.”
At 151.6 inches in length, with a 96.5-inch wheelbase, the Nissan Extrem is nearly a foot shorter than the maker’s popular Juke model and shares its platform with the Versa sold in the U.S. – which is also known as the Micra or March in other global markets.
In contrast to the buoyant national culture, notes Nakamura, Brazilian cars have tended to be quite conservative in design – perhaps reflecting the market’s traditional focus on entry-level offerings. Nissan wanted to break out of that mold with a much more striking offering that bears such design details as a GT-R-like grille and fenders, with its headlamps and roofline derived from the current 370Z.
Nissan cautions that Extrem is “strictly a concept car with no immediate plans for production.” But it also hints that it offers some styling details we’re likely to see in the not-too-distant future – both in Brazil and other parts of the world.
Clearly, Nissan needs to deliver a standout product when the new Rio plant launches. While it nearly doubled its market share last year, the Japanese maker still accounts for only a little more than 2% of total Brazilian auto sales. CEO Carlos Ghosn has declared a 5% target by 2016. But that will mean grabbing away share from current Brazilian market leaders like Volkswagen, Fiat and General Motors – as well as from the increasingly successful Chinese who have flooded the country with stripped-down econoboxes.
(For more on the new Brazilian Opel Onix, Click Here.)
“Extrem suggests that exotic and exciting design need not just be reserved for expensive cars. It shows that innovative, sophisticated design can be made in a clever, attainable way. EXTREM is one of our answers to this possibility and it opens an exciting new chapter in our design relationship with Brazil,” said Nakamura.