Haven't I seen this car somewhere before?
If you travel abroad often _ or don't reside in Thailand _ then yes. The all-new Lafesta from Nissan you see here is simply a reskinned model of the Mazda 5, also known as Premacy in Japan.
Although Nissan developed earlier generations of the Lafesta on its own, it asked Mazda to supply the latest version under an OEM supply agreement. This clearly shows the need to maximise economies of scales in a tough market environment.
Has the Lafesta lost the plot?
Not necessarily, because the dual electric sliding doors on both sides of the Lafesta mini-MPV (Highway Star in full) have been the selling points since the previous generation. The Serena mid-size and Elgrand full-size MPVs also have portals that prove practical for use in tight road spaces.
This means that being a clone of Mazda is certainly not a bad thing because the 5/Premacy also has the same design approach and flexible seven-seat matrix to rival the likes of the Toyota Wish in Japan and Ford S-Max/Grand C-Max in Europe.
The Lafesta gets the Mazda 5’s cabin design and sevenseat matrix.
Has the Lafesta got tech to boast?
Here comes the bad bit about being a clone. You see, Mazda has never really been a forerunner when it comes to offering technology to stand out in the mass-market.
The 5/Premacy gets a 2.0-litre petrol engine (with direct-injection) with five-speed automatic, so that's the breathing apparatus for the Lafesta with exactly the same 16kpl economy rating under the over-optimistic 10-15 mode used in Japan.
Had Nissan developed the new Lafesta on its own, it could have turned to its proven CVT automatic gearbox or even its new-generation diesel-turbo already used in Japanese and European spec X-Trail SUVs.
Tch! Any updates on Nissan's Thai MPV plans?
As many long-time product pundits in Thailand may know, Nissan has been keen on selling MPVs in Thailand ever since the Japanese parent firm took a controlling stake in Thai operations.
It was once envisaged that a mini-MPV to rival the Wish be made in Thailand and swapped with other markets in Asean under the Afta trade scheme, but it didn't materialise.
Another option was to import the more cost-effective Grand Livina from Indonesia. However, Thai product planners feared that its assimilation with the Toyota Avanza rival would turn off most Thais, so it too never reached Thai showrooms.
Today it appears that Nissan is still trying to convert customers with 1 million baht to spare to the frumpy-looking X-Trail SUV which comes with petrol and CVT tech, but to no avail.
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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