The Nissan Sunny has undoubtedly been one of the best-selling and popular cars for the Japanese automaker in the Middle East for at least the past several years. Thanks to its affordability, reasonable practicality, relatively-low running costs and of late, a spacious cabin & boot, made this B-segment sedans one of the least risky options to go for. The outgoing model, whilst boasting a large boot and a roomy cabin, has been around since late 2011 and is certainly showing its age now. So to recapture its position in an ever-growing and rapidly expanding market, the all-new and much improved 2020 Nissan Sunny seemed like just the right move for the automaker.
While both the models (old and new) share a similar V platform for their underpinnings, Nissan has made certain revisions to this architecture to bring it up-to-date. This is the very architecture that can be seen on the latest Kicks crossover as well. Not surprisingly, the all-new 2020 Nissan Sunny was actually launched at the 2019 Dubai International Motor Show. It is clear that Nissan has made tons of changes to the new Sunny to ensure that buyers now have far fewer reasons to not buy one than they did ever before.
Exterior
One of the most discernable and important changes made to the 2020 Nissan Sunny is the one made to its exterior design and styling. The previous generation of the Sunny wasn’t quite a handsome and well-proportioned of cars, regardless of its low pricing and segment status. However, the all-new model significantly changes all that by introducing the brand’s latest design philosophy, thereby imitating the styling of its elder siblings – the new Sentra or even the much larger Altima.
With the influx of better taste, the 2020 Nissan Sunny features the brand’s new V-motion front grille design, flanked by more aggressive-looking headlamps that now sport LED daytime-running lights as well. The front and rear bumpers have been sculpted to look more modern, with the latter even getting an optional faux air diffuser. The side profile now looks much trendier thanks to its ‘floating’ effect, while an overall reduction to the sedan’s height gives it better proportions and stance, too.
The rear of the 2020 Sunny feature larger, funkier-looking tail lamps that definitely impact the styling of the car, but in a positive way. The new Nissan Sunny is longer and wider than its predecessor, and also comes with a larger footprint, courtesy of its larger wheelbase of 2.618 meters compared to the older model’s 2.590 meters. However, the new model’s boot is noticeably smaller in terms of its overall capacity – now affording only 416 liters of room compared to the previous one’s 490 liters.
Interior
Inside the 2020 Nissan Sunny, design updates means that this is no longer a sterile and boring place to be in. In fact, the automaker has added some goodies in here such as a sporty flat-bottom steering wheel and larger and better-looking instrument cluster, along win higher trims, with a more symmetric dashboard layout and in higher trims, an upgraded infotainment head unit as well.
The quality of materials and their fit-and-finish has been improved as well, while overall comfort levels have seen a rise too. Thanks to the larger dimensions, space for occupants and stowage areas remain some of the best-in-class. Also, to reduce noise and vibrations, Nissan has applied better sealants and upped their insulation game all around as well. Needless to say, buyers now get more modern features than ever before seen in any Sunny till date.
Engine and performance
The 2020 Nissan Sunny gets a 1.6-liter naturally-aspirated four-cylinder which now produces 118 hp and 149 Nm of torque – these higher figures are courtesy of a slightly larger engine. Still utilizing a CVT, the new Sunny claims an improved fuel economy of 5.1 L/100 km, thus bettering its predecessor’s 6.9 L/100 km figure. Having stated the obvious improvements, do not think that the Nissan Sunny has become much faster, because it is still quite slow – just not as much as before.
Verdict
In the UAE, the Nissan Sunny contends with cars like the Honda City, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio sedan, and Toyota Yaris sedan. The 2020 Nissan Sunny is surely a far better and more capable car than its precursor, and much safer too. The raft of improvements and design modifications that have been made, do justify the bump in the Sunny’s price tag. Among the line-up of trims, I think the 1.6L SV, with a decent features and safety equipment list, makes the most sense at AED 59,900.
