KEY POINTS:
Nissan New Zealand launched its revamped UK-sourced Primera at the start of this year.
But it now looks like the less-than-successful mid-sizer will be removed completely from local showrooms next year, to be replaced by a genre-bending crossover wagon.
Production of the Primera for the European market ceased abruptly in October.
This left Nissan New Zealand facing a sales-run-out situation and a pretty long wait until a replace- ment model could be sourced.
That new car is a hatch-cum-wagon called the Dualis, known as the Qashqai in Europe, which was launched to huge acclaim and huge waiting lists in Europe this year.
Based on the same platform as the X-Trail off-roader, the Dualis will be offered only in front-drive for Kiwi customers.
Likely to sourced from Japan for our market (it's also built in Britain), it will be powered by a 2.0-litre engine with 104kW/196Nm and a continuously variable transmission.
Four-wheel-drive versions of the car are available in other markets, but Nissan New Zealand is keen to position the Dualis as a roadgoing family car.
The company will retain the 2.5-litre X-Trail as its mid-size off-road-oriented model.
Expect Dualis to be slightly cheaper than the current Primera, which, by the way, is going for a song at the moment as Nissan clears its stocks.
