Nissan Terrano AWD not on the cards

Following the launch of the Renault Duster AWD, enthusiasts have been expecting Nissan to launch a 4x4 version of the Terrano as well. Sadly though, the Nissan Terrano may not be offered in the go-anywhere avatar.

To understand why, a little history is a must. We know all about the Renault-Nissan alliance, on both global and Indian scales. We also know that Renault in order to quickly build up its Indian portfolio dived into the Nissan product pool and after a quick change of badges came out with the Pulse (a rebadged Nissan Micra) and then the Scala (Nissan Sunny).

Nissan on its part decided to take the same route for its compact SUV. And out came the Terrano, a rebadged Renault Duster. But the Terrano was more than just a badge change; the Nissan was actually better looking than the Duster thanks to new panels, head lamps and tail section. Needless to say, the Terrano succeeded where the Pulse and the Scala did not. In fact, the Nissan Terrano came very close to challenging the Duster in terms of sale numbers.

This must have surely got Renault worried. So, in order to create a bigger differentiation between its Duster and Nissan’s Terrano - not just in terms of pricing of looks but also positioning – Renault might not be willing to share its all wheel drive tech with Nissan for the Terrano.  Now the next obvious question will be about Nissan using its own 4x4 tech; after all off-road enthusiasts swear by a Nissan’s off-roading ability. The simple answer would be the cost of engineering it into the existing Terrano platform would be too much to even bothering attempting it.

So, unless Renault decides to share the AWD drive tech, the Nissan Terrano will remain a front wheel drive city SUV, while the Renault Duster now with its AWD ability, will be the king of the hill.