Nissan Magnite's premium updates to compact SUV

THE Compact SUV segment is a good place to be right now if you’re shopping around in that category.

- WILLEM VAN DE PUTTE [e-mail]

There’s a host of manufacturers vying for your attention after you consider the Renault Kiger, the Mahin-dra XUV 3X0, the Citroen C3, the Hyundai Exter, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and the Suzuki Fronx.

There’s also the Nissan Magnite. It’s a pity the local Japanese manu-facturer is in the news for everything but vehicles with filled-on-merger talks with Honda, rumours of a deal with Tesla and GiGi and CEO musical chairs. For a company with its rich history and legacy, they deserve better.

For now, at least, South Africans are unperturbed, with the Magnite, their best seller, far outselling regular monthly sales of more than 800.

Exterior and interior

It recently received a nip and tuck with some exterior enhancements that include a redesigned front grille, LED projector headlights and LED “Lightsaber” indicators.

At the back, there are new tail lights with a 3D honeycomb gradient effect and in the case of the range-topping 1.0 Turbo Acenta Plus CVT we tested on test, a stand-on 16-inch Gunmetal alloy wheels. Buying patterns have changed with people now preferring spoke-oriented finishing and technology to this end Nissan has listened and addressed them accordingly.

The interior changes are a big step up with almost all hard plastics cov-ered with leatherette.