More down to earth Japanese hatchback news. Nissan today presents a Note to the world that has been renewed down to the smallest bolt. The all-new Nissan Note is always electric, but it is not fully electric.
Until 2017, you could also turn to the Dutch Nissan dealers for the Note, a very down-to-earth, so especially practical hatchback that, like fellow countryman Honda Jazz, was a middle ground between a regular hatchback and a mini MPV. The second generation Note, which disappeared from the Dutch market three years ago, was still sold in large parts of Asia, among other places. Until now, Nissan has introduced a completely new generation of Note to the world.
Nissan Note
The new third-generation Note is again a five-door hatchback, but looks less tall than its predecessor. The Note has a muzzle in which we perceive design elements from electric brothers Leaf and Ariya. The lighting at the rear is striking. Nissan throws the vertical light units that run a bit into the roof into the trash and mounts a set of flat rear light units that are connected much lower on the rear. In addition, the roofline runs a lot less further to the rear than with its predecessors. The rear window is a lot flatter.
The interior is of course also a lot more modern than that of the outgoing Note. Nissan gives the new Note a dashboard with horizontal and diagonal lines. In the center of the dashboard is an infotainment screen and behind the steering wheel is also an angular display. That copy functions as a set of instruments. A striking feature is the relatively high center tunnel that separates the driver and front passenger.
Nissan Note
The new Nissan Note is electrically powered, but it is not an EV. Like the new Qashqai, and just like the previous Nissan Note in Japan, the new Note features an e-Power powertrain. That means that the Note simply has a petrol engine on board, but that machine does not directly drive the wheels in any case. The petrol engine acts as a generator for a relatively small battery pack. A smart module ensures that the package supplies power directly to the electric motor that is quite powerful for a hybrid. The advantage? You have the direct throttle response of an EV. The petrol engine could also run at its most economical because it often runs at an optimal speed. Nissan has not released extensive technical specifications yet. The brand does say that a four-wheel drive Note with two electric motors will also be presented later this year.
Dutch nut
Between 2006 and 2017, Nissan sold 21,839 copies of the Note in the Netherlands, spread over two generations. In its year of introduction, the Note was sold almost 4,700 times. The Note would not score that well later on. The following year, only 2,257 copies were sold, after which sales continued to decline every subsequent year. In 2012, only 718 Notes found an owner. The arrival of the second generation Note boosted sales figures in 2014 to 2,535 units. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the sales volume fell again to 2,034, 1,955 and 681 units respectively.
We do not expect the new Nissan Note in the Netherlands. We are still awaiting a response from Nissan Netherlands.