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Nissan’s new compact SUV packs quite a punch

- Aditya Upadhyaula

We’ve been seeing sketches of Nissan’s latest compact SUV for a while now and it’s finally here in the flesh. The Magnite has a lot riding on its shoulders as the make or break product for Nissan, so enough with the small talk, let’s dive right into it.

Up front, the Magnite is an imposing car for its size. Large grilles are par for the course these days and the Magnite certainly delivers on that. Sleek L-shaped DRLs and thin LED headlamps round out the front. The Magnite was meant to be a Datsun, but thankfully, the new Nissan logo in the middle of the grille clears the air.

Although it’s narrower than its main rivals, the Nissan Magnite manages a more butch stance thanks to its wide hips and pronounced wheel arches. The downside is that the 16-inch diamond-cut alloys look good, but don’t exactly fill those large wheel arches.

The rear-end of the Magnite is pretty simple, there’s just a split taillight unit, the new Nissan badge and Magnite lettering across the hatch. In traffic, the Magnite most definitely catches eyeballs, especially in this dual-tone blue and white paint job.