This year’s editor’s choice award goes to Nissan for the very commendable decision to extend its warranty offering to an industry-leading level of five years or 100,000 miles for its diesel models.
The company says it has looked at the average mileage of its vans over five years, which it thinks is just under 100,000 miles, and set its warranty at a level that will service that requirement, across its NV200, NV400, NT400 Cabstar and new NP300 Navara models. The only exception is the electric e-NV200, which remains at five years and 60,000 for the EV system and three years/60,000 miles for the rest of the vehicle.
Nissan previously offered three years or 100,000 miles, or three years and 60,000 miles on the Navara, and says it is backing up the quality of the new generation products with its wallet, as it wouldn’t be able to offer an extended warranty if it expected to be hit with a large number of claims.
“Nissan has a long heritage in LCVs and we intend to grow our presence in this market across Europe,” said Ponz Pandikuthira, Director of Light Commercial Vehicles for Nissan Europe, launching the extended warranty. “Meeting and exceeding the needs and preferences of our customers is a priority.
“This innovative five year Manufacturer Warranty was developed following in depth research among our LCV customers to understand what they valued most,” he continued. ““Launching this market-leading LCV warranty is testament to Nissan’s confidence in the quality of our vehicles and the peace of mind we wish to offer our customers across Europe.”
Nissan’s offering now trumps any of its major commercial vehicle rivals. Mercedes and Iveco offers an unlimited mileage three-year warranty, while Renault customers get a four-year or 100,000-mile arrangement. Everything else on the market is at best three years or 100,000 miles, apart from Fiat Professional which gives an extra 20,000 miles over the likes of Citroen, Ford, Peugeot, Vauxhall and Volkswagen.
The new Nissan warranty kicked off with any vehicles bought across Europe from 1 September 2015 and covers component and chassis elements including powertrain, battery and paintwork, and also covers the Nissan Genuine accessory range – provided they were installed by an authorised Nissan dealer or approved repairer.
Nissan is also hoping the new warranty will give confidence to operators currently using rival vehicles that it is looking to entice to the brand. “If someone is considering changing brand, the warranty matters because they don’t have experience with them,” says Ponz, describing the offering as a “differentiator”.
The change in conditions comes alongside Nissan’s Europe-wide revamp of its light commercial vehicle dealers, establishing a three-tier network. The first tier is passenger car-dominated dealers where they have trained van sales and service personnel, tier two is the dealers with business centres capable of serving car and LCV customers as separate businesses and the top third tier will appear in limited cities across Europe, dealing only in, and showcasing the light commercial vehicles.
The first UK tier three dealer is in Birmingham, while Nissan has 54 tier two business centres in the UK.
Did you know…
It will be a big 2016 for Nissan’s light commercial vehicle operation, with a replacement for the Primastar joining the new Navara pick-up.
Highly Commended
Ssangyong Korando Sports
Early this year, Ssangyong upgraded its Korando Sports double cab pick-up to give it the one-tonne payload required for business users to be able to buy exempt from VAT. Previously the payload was only 650kg, and the new model also carries a 2.7-tonne towing capacity.
The upgrade to the Korando Sports means a proper one-tonne double cab is now available for under £15,000 (excluding VAT), complete with 2.0-litre 150hp diesel engine. Only the Chinese Great Wall Steed is cheaper, and the Ssangyong is a more civilised machine on-road, also offering equipment on the base model including 16-inch alloys, air conditioning, tinted glass and a USB socket. The £18,495 EX trim upgrades the wheels to 18-inch, and also adds leaher upholstery, heated front seats, parking sensors and cruise control.
