The Geneva Motor Show isn’t until next month, but we’ve seen a few debuts come out ahead of the show. Don’t you love auto show season? In the United States it kicks off with Los Angeles in November and ends with New York in April.
Next week is the Chicago show, which claims to be the biggest in the world by floor space. At Geneva, Nissan will be showing off the interestingly-named Invitation Concept. While a concept, it is a dead ringer (at least on the exterior) for a new B-segment Nissan model. Nissan went for a much different strategy with its current B-segment Versa. While the previous generation model was more of a competitor in the segment, the Versa sedan has thrown off all frills and competence to achieve a $10,990 base price tag.
The hatchback still is available, with a price tag of $14,480. Big difference there. The Invitation Concept is likely a preview to the Versa hatchback’s replacement.
The result is pretty fantastic for the segment. There are nice, clean lines with well integrated shapes. The front grille integrates nicely with the headlights and there are nice twists to be found everywhere. Now, it is pretty close to the Fit, which is generally regarded as the segment standard. However, it is better looking than that car.
The interior is more concept-like, but there are some themes that should carry over. Rather than boxy surfaces, there are fluid lines on the door panels and dash. Very nice. The orange elements on the seats are cool too- this writer is a sucker for orange. There aren’t any details on the car’s powertrain, but Nissan did say the production car will have the Pure Drive badge. We haven’t been enthralled with Nissan’s recent efforts, but this car looks like a promising step forward. Hopefully the production car will carry over as much as possible.
