Nissan X-Trail Review: Too Little Too Late or Masterful Strategy?

Will it strike the fancy of the Indian buyer given what it offers?

Is it too little too late from Nissan? Well, I have to say that there’s nothing wrong with bringing the X-Trail into the Indian market. It’s a good car to have but the fourth-generation X-Trail was first introduced globally in 2021. And it comes to India 3 years later. And the one we get doesn't get the four-wheel drive, the e-Power hybrid, or even a more powerful engine!

Nissan X-Trail Review: Design

So what does it have? Let’s get into it. Surprisingly good aerodynamics despite that big squarish shape. Now that’s thanks to air curtains, grille shutters in the bumper, tyre deflectors and clever design. The car is being offered in just 3 colours – Pearl White, Champagne Silver and Diamond black. So really just three colours and three really boring colours. Well, go figure!

Now styling-wise you get typical Nissan treatment when it comes to all of its SUVs, that big V grille becomes even bigger on the SUVs. So you’ve got that. But you know what, to me it takes away from the car a little bit because all your attention goes to this thick chrome and this treatment and the car doesn’t look pretty as a result. I think in this segment it’s important to look a little bit sexy and pretty as well but then I guess when you’re competing with the Fortuner, looks don’t really matter. Now you’ve got the modern elements of the LED lighting, especially the DRL up front. This part’s finished quite nicely, the split looks quite nice too. Frankly, the chrome and the grille are finished quite nicely. Now the Nissan logo. It’s a new logo, nice and big but for some reason, it’s still housed in what looks like the old logo. It should have been a nice slim treatment because that was the whole idea of changing the logo.

It’s got a little bit of muscle in the hood which looks nice. The wheel arches are pretty pronounced and the roof line is nice and tall but the wheels could have been a bit bigger and frankly, you could have had a slightly nicer, sexier pattern as well. You do pick up the bulk of the car as you come around to the side, it is nice and well-proportioned. It looks large and then it starts to look the part of that full-size SUV, especially when you come around to that back. This section kind of gives this impression, lots of boot space or that third row of seating.

The LED taillight treatment is quite nice as it sits nice and high, kind of adds to the muscle and the heft of the car. It’s got that raindrop effect that Nissan likes to talk about and the boomerang shape wraps around the corner.

Nissan X-Trail Review: Tech & Interior

A nice little touch here is the fact that the doors open up to 85 degrees, allowing you to enter very easily. But that’s not the case when you have to enter the third row, you have to pull the strap here that drops down the seat pull the seat forward and now it’s a climb.

Let me start with the third row itself and you know it’s not really comfortable in here, my legs are cramped. You could say it’s best left for children. Even the small, little rear quarter window doesn’t help with the airy feeling inside in the third row. It’s nice that it has cupholders at the back and a small cubby hole on either side but a lack of charging port is a big miss. But you know the leg space can be increased by just pushing the second row ahead.

The second row has a 40:20:40 split and that gives you a huge variety of seating configurations. 16 different permutations and combinations in fact! Alright, we’ve spent enough time in the back. Now let’s get to the seats in the front.

Tech is a big deal in cars these days and it’s a shame to see Nissan giving us an 8-inch infotainment touchscreen when there is a 12.3-inch unit available on this model, in other markets. Even more perplexing, that system has wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity but on the smaller one, it’s wired!

A good part here is that you can connect your phone to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto using both these USB ports, you’re not limited to using either of the two! But the display, its resolution isn’t the best out there and there is a bit of a lag when you’re using it. You also get a 360-degree camera and the resolution is not the best out there either.

And then there’s the virtual cluster which thankfully is the same 12.3-inch unit you see in other markets. But there’s very little in terms of customisation options here, you can only choose between two themes! The X-Trail does have a wireless charger, a panoramic sunroof, a floating centre console, interesting storage options, and dual-zone climate control.

Nissan X-Trail Review: Safety

On safety, the X-Trail does well. It gets 7 airbags, ISOFIX child seat anchors, stability control and anti-lock braking (ABS) with brake force distribution, hill start assist, front parking sensors and a 360 camera.

Nissan X-Trail Review: Engine & Performance

This SUV has a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine with 161 bhp and 300 Nm. It gets Nissan’s new variable compression turbocharger technology, a mild hybrid assist and a start-stop function.

I saw a lot of talk on social media about why Nissan has chosen to bring us the smaller engine, a three-cylinder engine. Let me tell you first off this is actually something that I don’t find a problem with. I will qualify that statement in just a second by saying Nissan could have done better, but there’s nothing wrong with this engine. It’s actually really smooth and actually sounds really nice too, like a lot of Nissan engines have in the past! So I don’t really have a complaint with the engine per se, or whether or not it fits this body style or this size of vehicle. My problem is that Nissan isn’t seemingly trying to impress us. Where is the ePower range extender hybrid? You know it’s something like that, bringing that in would have been a bit of a game changer. The thing that would have gotten people to sit up and take notice.

And then there’s this criticism about this being a CVT and not like a dual-clutch transmission. Honestly, while Nissan says in its pitch that the overall reworking of this X-Tronic is to try and give it almost like a DCT feel. I’m not gonna go that far with my praise, but there is no rubber band effect. It actually does feel nice and it’s responsive especially when you try and use the paddle shifters as well.

And lastly you put this gearbox into S, and then you also change your drive modes to sport. Yeah it’s no sports car but it’s still nice, it’s quick. It’s surprising how far the car actually gets to move to triple digits despite this so-called “small engine”.

Nissan X-Trail Review: Suspension

So my colleague Satvik also drove this car and he was talking about how the seat doesn’t seem as comfortable as it should. You know maybe it’s not great on under-thigh support. I don’t want to nitpick, I’m not finding it uncomfortable. It’s nice in terms of the commanding driving position. But it’s not a power-adjustable seat. In this segment that is going to raise eyebrows.

The big redeeming factor though is ride quality. The car just glides over the little undulations and bumps. It’s got a very nice suspension tuning, something that almost makes up for things that it doesn’t have.

Nissan X-Trail Review: Verdict

So who’s really gonna buy this car? Well in terms of chief rivals the Toyota Fortuner tops the list. You’ve also got cars like the Skoda Kodiaq, the new generation is on its way as well. So you’re talking about a price point that goes everywhere from ₹35 to even 45 lakh. So now if you go by the buzz that’s kind of percolating into the market, well you’ve got this impression that the car’s going to be in this ₹40 lakh range. But I think Nissan’s got to play it a lot smarter. Going by the equipment level of this car, it can not be at that price point. It just simply cannot because nobody will buy it. So if you actually think about it, the smart thing to do would be to say, hey we’ve got limited numbers that we’re expecting anyway, it is a completely built unit, an import, and so why not subsidise some of that cost as marketing cost and price it closer to ₹30 lakh. ₹30 or 35 lakh, that’s the sweet spot and that is what will set the market on fire!

So will it strike the fancy of the Indian buyer especially if you end up spending the higher amount that I mentioned? Well, why don’t you tell us what you think? Because for Nissan, as I’ve been saying, it is too little too late. Unless there is a nice little surprise when it comes to price and positioning.