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Nissan looks set to enter the performance hatch market with a version of its newly launched Pulsar family hatch.
A hot hatch version of the Pulsar, Nissan’s first C-segment hatch in seven years, was displayed as a concept at the Paris Motor Show this month.
Created by the brand’s NISMO motorsport division, the concept included aerodynamic styling in the form of a deep front bumper with larger air intakes and brake vent ducts, flared wheel arches, deep side skirts, centrally-mounted twin exhaust pipes, a rear diffuser and carbon fibre spoiler.
The car’s ride height was reduced, its suspension tuned and 19-inch alloy wheels added, shod with low-profile 235/35 R19 tyres.
No engine upgrades were detailed and Nissan officials described the Pulsar NISMO concept as “nothing more than a styling exercise.”
However Nissan personnel at the UK media launch of the Pulsar suggested there is great enthusiasm for putting the performance version into production, to target the Kia Pro_Cee’d GT.
Meanwhile, UK dealers are taking delivery of their initial Pulsars, providing them with a rival to cars such as the Kia Cee’d, Ford Focus and Toyota Auris for the first time since the demise of the Almera in 2007.
The current range is offered with only a 1.2 petrol and 1.5 diesel engine but a more powerful 1.6-litre 190PS variant joins the range in Spring.
This engine is thought to be the likely candidate for uprating to fit in a GTI version of the Pulsar. It has already been boosted to 212bhp in the NISMO RS version of the Juke crossover, which goes on sale in December.