The Micra has always been a good car to opt for if you want a spacious hatchback with good low-speed manners. The CVT gearbox eliminates all the jerks associated with AMTs or even conventional automatics in the price range, and it isn’t significantly
slower than the manual-gearbox-equipped counterpart. To celebrate its fifth year of production in India, Nissan has chosen to launch a limited-edition version of the Micra with additional features but, the company claims, at a great price. The biggest difference between the regular Micra and this one is the CVT gearbox: this is a current-generation one, while the regular Micra is a previous-generation one. That means that just like the Sunny automatic, the Micra X-Shift gets three modes of operation for the ‘box. Regular mode keeps revs down and efficiency up, there’s a small ‘Sport’ button below the release switch that when engaged keeps revs up for better performance and there’s a low mode that can be used for steep slopes. The X-Shift transmission also can decide what to do by itself if left to its own devices in the regular mode, depending on the driver inputs.
Cosmetically, a few additions make the Micra X-Shift feel a little more upmarket than the regular models. The most prominent feature is the steering wheel from the current Sunny, which looks and feels more premium. The driver’s seat also gets an armrest — useful when there’s an automatic gearbox involved. There’s also the usual additions like illuminated scuff plates on the top-spec variant. In a welcome move, Nissan will also offer this gearbox on a mid-spec XL variant of the Micra, making the convenience of an automatic more accessible to the consumer. The Micra X-Shift is priced at Rs 6.39 lakh for the XL variant and Rs 7.04 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi for the XV, which puts it neatly into the space between the Honda Brio automatic and the Volkswagen Polo automatic, and right up alongside the new Ford Figo automatic so the positioning doesn’t change. Only 750 units of the Micra X-Shift are up for grabs.
