SMALL CHANGE (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_nissanmicra_2011

By Andy Enright

Introductionword count: 79

Nissan is a company that gets an awful lot of things right. It predicted that buyers of conventional hatchbacks and saloons would migrate to SUV and crossover vehicles. It developed a sports coupe that almost overnight ended the Porsche 911's forty years of dominance. It was the first to market with a realistic and sensibly-priced electric vehicle. Despite all this, it still manages to drop the odd clanger. The Murano SUV was one and the 2010 Micra was another.

Modelsword count: 8

5dr supermini (1.2 petrol [Visia, Acenta, Kuro, Shira])

Historyword count: 260

You could see what Nissan was trying to do with the original version of the MK4 Micra. Cash-strapped buyers were looking for cheaper alternatives, so when the opportunity arose to replace the rather expensive previous generation car with a simpler model from India, Nissan jumped at the chance. The thing is, we didn't. Nissan introduced this fourth generation Micra in autumn 2010 and it seemed expensive for what it was, clearly built down to a price and only offered in one bodystyle and with two engines, both 1.2-litre petrols, one with a supercharger to help it to 98bhp. The result soon spoke for themselves. In 2012 Ford sold 109,265 Fiestas. That's a good result in tough market conditions. Vauxhall didn't do at all badly either, shifting 89,434 Corsas. Nissan would have been happy to have achieved half these kinds of numbers with its supermini offering. In the event, despite some fairly drastic price cuts, the Micra only sold 12,524 units. In fact, it was outsold by the distinctly boutique Range Rover Evoque. That's wasn't good enough for what ought to have been the biggest selling car in Nissan's line up. In fact, Qashqai and Juke crossover models along with the Note supermini-MPV (in its run-out year) all did better than the underperforming Micra. In response to these woeful sales, Nissan instigated a root and branch rethink, launching a smarter car in 2013. So we know that the 2010-2013 Micra wasn't a successful car when new. But might it be worth a look as a bargain used buy? Let's find out.

What You Getword count: 179

The rounded headlights and the curved line of the side windows are pure Micra, as is the short, upright shape that we've seen before in past iterations of Nissan's supermini. The dual sectioned front grille won't be familiar to previous Micra owners and the lines are sharper around at the rear where the eye-catching striped light clusters appear to protrude from the flat tailgate. Another nice touch is chunky roof spoiler that integrates with the rear window surround and Nissan is proud of the low 0.32 aerodynamic drag coefficient achieved by the stocky bodywork. This Micra is still a bit of a lightweight compared to other modern superminis, but it's fractionally longer than the old car and interior space is generous. The cabin is designed around the rounded theme witnessed outside, with circular motifs popping up all over. Rear leg and headroom are generous and the boot is a respectable size but the seat backs aren't split and flip forward in one section. Storage space elsewhere in the cabin is generous with no shortage of pockets, boxes and cubbies.

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