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Greg Carrasco has a problem and it won't be going away any time soon, not with the price of regular gas averaging nearly $1.40 a litre across Canada.
The general sales manager of 401-Dixie Nissan just cannot get enough Nissan Versas to meet customer demand.
"They just aren't out there," he says of the entry-level subcompact, a little errand machine that is sold in both sedan and hatchback body styles. And that's despite the very modest sales incentives Nissan Canada has on the Versa — modest, at least, compared to some rivals.
The entry-level Versa four-door hatchback 1.8S has just a $150 factory-to-dealer cash incentive on it — called Trading Dollars — and $600 in "bonus" cash available for recent graduates.
That's not much when you consider the Hyundai Accent has more than $3,000 available in factory rebates, the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit qualify for $1,000 in free cash from the federal government's ecoAuto subsidy program and even the Mazda3, a larger and sportier model, comes with more than $3,000 in factory cash for buyers who bargain hard.
Carrasco, standing on his bustling lot on a hot summer's day, says the Versa has the excellent fuel economy so many of today's buyers want — 7.9 litres/100 km city/6.3 highway — but it's not a tiny little runabout with no space for people or cargo. As small cars go, it's not so small.
He's right about the sizing. The Mexico-built, four-passenger hatchback I've just tested feels bigger, more substantial than a Fit or a Yaris. It is, too. Nissan's starter car is longer, taller and heavier than the Yaris and Fit.
The product planners at Nissan have argued the Versa is what you might call a transitional car for drivers who want to get out of their gas hogs but are terrified at the prospect of mingling with all those 18-wheelers that clog the 401 and so many other highways.
The Versa also fills the bill because it is not a cutie-pie design. It has a serious front end, with a long hood and a broad stance.
The Yaris certainly goes the cutesy styling route, while the Fit is a huge rolling bread box of functionality. The Versa looks most like a grown-up car among the three.
At $14,598 for the base 1.8S hatchback, it's also one of the more expensive entry cars for sale in Canada. A four-door Yaris, if you include the government subsidy, can be had for less than $13,000 and the Fit, with $1,000 in taxpayer money propping it up, comes in at a base price less than $14,000.
Unfortunately for Nissan, the Versa just barely misses qualifying for the ecoAuto subsidies that expire after the 2008 model year — even though the Versa is an extremely efficient package that runs on regular gas and is available with a fuel-saving continuously variable transmission, a transmission without traditional gearing that is designed for, among other things, fuel efficiency.
The Versa is more functional than exciting, unless you get really excited about a roomy small car. Standard gear includes a rear seat that splits and folds 60/40; a standard tilt steering column; a stereo CD player with four speakers; and front, side and side curtain airbags for crash safety.
Speaking of safety, the Versa rates four out of five stars in U.S. government crash tests. Good but not great. But I do applaud the active headrests that help to prevent whiplash in a crash.
What you don't get on the base car is air conditioning ($1,400 packaged with power windows and door locks). Most people now want all three on even a runabout, so the real base price is about $16,000 plus fees and taxes.
Nissan also sells a Versa sedan starting at $14,998. But the hatch would be my choice because it is so much more useful when you need to load bikes and hockey bags and the like.
The Versa has an edge over most of its rivals in the power department, too. The peppy, 122-horsepower, 1.8-litre twin-cam four-cylinder engine comes with a six-speed manual transmission. The least expensive Versa is available with a four-speed automatic tranny for $1,000. The CVT is an extra $1,300 and is sold only on pricier versions.
Note that the 1.5-litre four in the Yaris only makes 106 horsepower, while the 1.5-litre in the Fit returns 109 horsepower.
So the Versa is a bit peppier, though at 1,235 kg the Nissan is heftier than the 1,050 kg Yaris four-door hatchback and the 1,091 kg Fit.
The extra heft hits home in the driving — and in a good way, for the most part. The Versa has much better road manners than either the Fit or the Yaris.
Its long wheelbase — nearly 150 mm longer than the Fit — provides excellent ride comfort. It also soaks up the bumps and bruises littering the 401 very nicely.
Yes, the Versa feels soft in cornering and that means plenty of body roll going around bends at any speed, not to mention some very noticeable dive in hard braking. The electric steering is a bit numb, too. And road noise at highway speeds is as exactly what you get in all the other cars in this economy class — no more, no less, but not quiet.
For passengers up front and in the rear, there is lots and lots of space. Head-, leg- and hip-room is really generous. The legroom, in particular, comes from the Versa's stretched dimensions. Roominess is a Versa strong suit.
Less stellar is versatility, which you would think might be a natural in a car called the Versa. Compared to the Fit, the Versa has some catching up to do.
The Fit has what Honda calls a Magic Seat in the rear. A brilliant work of engineering, it has seat bottoms that flip up and a rear seatback that can dive forward without removing the headrests to create a flat cargo floor. Heck, two people could actually sleep back there in a pinch.
The rear seat in the Versa is utterly conventional, without any kind of trick mechanism. It folds sort of flat, sure, but not like the Fit's. Same story with the Yaris.
Still, the Versa's cargo hold is equipped with a reversible mat that is carpeted on one side and plastic on the other. A nice touch if you're hauling dirty equipment.
Also, the instrument panel in the Versa looks expensive and the materials seem to be high-quality stuff for this class of grocery-getter.
The Versa is a so-called "world car," like the Fit and Yaris. Versions of it named the Tiida are sold by Nissan's partner, Renault, in many markets. Yet to their credit, the Nissan designers managed to argue for gauges mounted behind the steering wheel on the Versa.
By contrast, Toyota's Yaris has those distracting centre-mounted instruments that are cheaper to produce in a car that is sold in markets with both right- and left-hand drive.
The popularity of small cars is surging in Canada and the United States. Sales of entry-level cars like the Versa, Fit and Yaris are up about 15 per cent here so far this year and some 33 per cent in the United States. All three are good examples of global auto makers taking advantage of the lessons learned in other regions of the world, where the price of gas is higher and buyers have sophisticated and finicky tastes when it comes to runabouts.
Of the three, the Versa stands out for being a big small car with a roomy cabin decked out in nice-looking materials. Fuel economy is good, and for straight-ahead highway commuting this car is a winner.
No wonder Carrasco just can't enough of them.
2008 NISSAN VERSA 1.8S
Type: Four-door, subcompact hatchback
Base Price: $14,598
Engine: 1.8-litre, inline-four, DOHC
Horsepower/torque: 122 hp/127 lb-ft
Transmission: Six-speed manual or four-speed automatic ($1,000)
Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 7.9 city/6.3 highway; regular gas
Alternatives: Chevrolet Aveo, Pontiac Wave, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Honda Fit, Suzuki Swift
Like
- Big cabin filled with nice-looking materials
- Peppy with good fuel economy
- Strong, rather than cutesy, design
- Good highway ride
Don't like
- The Fit is more versatile with its Magic Seat
- Soft-feeling suspension means body roll in the corners
- Numb steering
- Road noise at highway speeds
