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Global Viewpoints
New European-built Almera
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"If the alliance with Renault represents the start of a new era globally, then the launch of the new Almera is the start of a new era for Nissan in Europe," said Sir Ian Gibson, President of Nissan Europe, at the unveiling of the new Nissan Almera at the Frankfurt Motor Show. "Huge European resources were used in the design, development, and manufacture of this new Almera," he added. The new car, developed for the European market, is being built at Nissan's UK plant, where output per employee per annum is now reported to have reached 105 cars. The car represents the debut of Nissan's new European approach to interior design and execution, says the company. The structure is said to be 30% stiffer than that of the previous Almera. Design goals included improved ride comfort, handling, and NVH (noise, vibration and harshness). The car has a new 2.2-L direct-injection turbodiesel engine and active head restraints.
It is the first European model to use an all-new global Nissan platform. The Japanese and North American markets will develop dedicated versions of the Almera based on the same MS platform. A specification brief with over 8000 performance targets was created for the platform, which Nissan believes was probably the most demanding ever attempted by any carmaker. Although Nissan's global capabilities were used in the car's design, there was major input from Nissan design and engineering operations in the UK, Germany, and Belgium. The car comes in three- and five-door forms, with a choice of gasoline and diesel engines. The diesel is built at Nissan's Cuatro Vientos plant in Spain. The new car is wider, longer, and higher than the previous model. Suspension includes multilink at the rear and MacPherson struts at the front. Nissan says the car has a "completely re-designed crash energy absorbing structure with an integrated safety zone around the occupants."
The Nissan European Technology Center north of London was responsible for key areas of the design, engineering, and development of the new Almera. Although a Nissan design, a number of German and Italian automotive design consultancies were also involved. The car has a distinctive curving roofline with what Nissan describes as a "surf tail." The car's frontal styling echoes Nissan's corporate identity.
The 2.2-L diesel engine for the Almera includes the first application of Nissan's M-Fire modulated-kinetics combustion technology for reduced soot and NOx emissions. The company says it stimulates a more stable, longer, and lower temperature burn by injecting fuel later in the compression stroke, so delaying combustion until pressure in the cylinder head has started to drop, providing time for the fuel to vaporize fully. The unit includes a newly designed high-pressure fuel-injection pump. Birdview satellite navigation is available for the Almera. It was developed jointly with Hitachi. The active head restraint system is said to be a first for a car in the Almera's market segment and is entirely mechanical, depending on the energy created in a rear impact to activate it. When this occurs, the seat's occupant is pressed deep into the seat back and this activates a mechanism that moves the head restraint upwards and forwards to check the rearward motion of the head, preventing the movement most likely to cause whiplash.
Stuart Birch
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