Datsun Cross takes the brand in a premium direction

Datsun reveals its new Cross model which as its name suggests is styled to be a crossover. But we have to say that it does look fairly premium in contrast to the rest of its stablemates. Read on to know more about it.

Datsun has officially taken the wraps off its newest product, the Cross. Originally slated to be called the Go Cross, Datsun has dropped the Go name in order to completely differentiate its latest offering. And with good reason, for even though it may be based on the same platform as the compact seven-seater Datsun Go+, the Cross features far more upmarket, styling, trim and equipment compared to anything else seen on Datsun models ever since the brand made a comeback in June of 2013.

Owing to its underpinnings the Datsun Cross may have a wagon like stance, but the Japanese car maker has worked to ensure it looks more aggressive and tough in a world going through an SUV frenzy. As a result, you see a chunky front bumper with lower black plastic cladding, a faux skid plate and silver accents over the faux air dams in the front bumper. Then there are those fog lamps mounted in a very Skoda Yeti fashion. The head lamps themselves are projectors with LED DRLs. The black plastic cladding meanwhile runs all around the car to give the car a crossover-ish stance. Which is helped by a taller ride height with a ground clearance of 200mm and 15-inch alloy wheels. Then there are those roof rails that add to the height of the car. Around the back there is a stylish rear spoiler, a chrome-tipped exhaust pipe and another faux skid plate design in the middle of the bumper.

Peep inside and Datsun seems to have really worked on improving plastic quality and trim for some of the bits such as the door pads and centre console look rather upmarket. Then there is the rather premium looking 6.75-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Other equipment on board includes automatic head lamps, electrically adjustable and folding ORVMs featuring turn indicators.

The seven-seater will continue to be powered by the company’s 1.2 litre, three-cylinder petrol engine mated to a CVT gearbox.

And even though there is no word of the new Datsun Cross coming to India, it could make for a good market proposition.