Nissan won’t make another large family car like the Primera, Nissan Europe chairman Paul Willcox has told Autocar, even though it has re-entered the small family car market with the Pulsar.
“We took the right decision on D-segment,” Willcox said, of deciding not to replace the Primera but instead focus on crossovers and SUVs.
He said that although returning to the C-segment with the Pulsar was the right thing to do – because that market is worth five million sales across Europe per year – the same wouldn’t be true for a car like the Primera.
“D-sector has fragmented,” he said, noting that smart non-premium manufacturers have moved away from conventional large family saloons and hatches, because they’ve come under intense pressure from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
“What’s left is compressed into the fleet sector,” Willcox said. “We were very brave [to abandon the Primera] but it was absolutely the right decision.”
Instead, the Pulsar will fill the final hole in Nissan’s range.
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