Nissan offers a hint of a "high-character" concept debuting in Brazil later this month.
As part of its Nissan 88 business plan, the second-largest of Japan’s automakers is planning to roll out 51 new vehicles in the coming years. That includes mainstream offerings like the 2013 Altima, battery-electric vehicles like the planned Infiniti LE – and just might include a “high-character” hatchback that would be based on a show car set for debut at the Sao Paulo Auto Show, in Brazil, in a few weeks.
Nissan has offered up a hint of what it has in store with a pair of strikingly unusual teaser images. Painted in a brilliant sunrise hue, the renderings appear to reveal a three-door – though some are suggesting the unnamed model might be a distinctly different design ala the Hyundai Veloster.
The choice of the annual Brazilian auto show all but certainly hints at a relatively mainstream price tag and compact or smaller body, meanwhile. The biggest sellers in the Portugese-speaking country target the so-called Popular Car segment.
Another look at the Brazilian concept.
What’s clear is that the concept is intended to “dazzle,” in the words of Nissan global design chief Shiro Nakamura, who suggests that, “It is a genuinely new and exciting concept, and it will explode with energetic design and impressive color that fully express our impression toward the country.”
There’s one notable difference between the concept and what Nissan designers say they’re already seeing on the streets of Brazil, adds Nakamura. Where silver and white paint hues now dominate, the concept’s bold color is meant to capture “the vibrancy and passion of the country.”
Nissan has been a relatively second-tier player in the booming Brazilian market but is now setting up a major assembly line there that it hopes will help gain ground against such major players as General Motors and Volkswagen.
Though it isn’t confirming the concept will go to production it all but certainly will influence an upcoming model – and that’s likely to see distribution to other parts of Latin America, perhaps to some other world markets, as well.