Nissan Almera picks up 15,000 bookings
The Nissan Almera is a car that shoulders a lot of hope for the people in Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM). It is the company’s make or break car in its attempt to reestablish the Nissan brand as a front-running Japanese brand, and many an appraisal in the company is probably decided by the Almera’s performance on the sales charts.
If that indeed was the case, ETCM’s employees would certainly have plenty of reason to celebrate this Chinese New Year, as the company has managed to collect over 15,000 bookings for the Almera as of 31 January 2013 – gathered in a time frame of approximately five months since the order books were opened on 6 September 2012. The Almera was officially launched on 30 October 2012.
Expressing the company’s satisfaction in the Almera’s strong sales performance, ETCM Executive Director Dato’ Dr Ang Bon Beng said, “Even as more choices are available in the market for car buyers, we are truly honoured that they are choosing the Nissan Almera, and this is a strong testament of their confidence in our products and services.”
ETCM offers the Almera in four grade variants, namely the basic E grade with manual and automatic transmissions, going up to the higher-specced V and VL grade models which are exclusively automatic. Prices start at RM66,800 for the manual E grade model, but a fully-loaded unit with all options ticked can go for over RM95,000 before insurance. All versions are powered by a 1.5-litre engine with modest outputs of 101hp and 139Nm.
Exceptionally spacious inside, the Almera is offered with a number of features that are uncommon in the sub-RM100k B-segment market such as keyless entry, push-start button, and automatic climate control, although these items are exclusive to the range-topping VL model priced at RM79,800 before options. The Almera was recently named as the Best Value for Money Passenger Car in the Autoworld Car of the Year Awards 2012.
Despite its relatively simplistic underpinnings, the Almera is shaping up to be a highly competitive player in the market with the potential of re-writing the market landscape completely. It’s long-term prospects remain to be seen, but what’s astonishing to note is that sales of the very car which the Almera is benchmarked against, the Toyota Vios, has remained unaffected, according to sources from UMW Toyota Motor. Malaysians’ appetite for cars is just amazing.
