New Nissan Pulsar to launch this autumn

Nissan has the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf in its sights with the new Pulsar hatchback, which it is launching late this year

New Pulsar shares its 2700mm wheelbase with the larger seven-seat X-Trail despite being 255mm shorter than the SUV

Nissan is returning to the mainstream family hatchback segment dominated by the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus with an all-new model called Pulsar.

The Pulsar will be produced at Nissan’s plant in Barcelona and go on sale in the UK this autumn. It will be the first time that Nissan has been in the segment since the Almera went off sale in 2006, to be indirectly replaced by the Qashqai.

Nissan says the C-segment hatchback has been “designed to meet the specific demands of European car buyers” and will feature “the same high-quality, high-innovation approach that has come to typify Nissan models”.

The Pulsar name first appeared in 1978 and was widely used for models in Asian and Australasian markets over the course of the past four decades, returning full-time to the Australian market last year. It also appeared in certain European markets in the early 1990s on the N14 model.

Although the new model’s design is related to that of the recent Qashqai and X-Trail SUVs and sits in the same class as them, its underpinnings come from elsewhere in the Nissan family. 

The five-seat, 4385mm-long Pulsar hatchback sits on a lengthened version of the Juke’s platform. The Pulsar is 115mm longer than a five-door Golf, 69mm of the extra length coming in the wheelbase. Nissan claims best-in-class rear legroom and shoulder room compared with its rivals.

The engine range will include three turbocharged units — two petrols and one diesel. From launch, there will be a base 113bhp 1.2 DIG-T petrol and a 108bhp 1.5 dCi diesel with CO2 emissions estimated to be 95g/km. A range-topping 187bhp 1.6-litre petrol unit will join the line-up next year. A CVT automatic will be optional alongside an expected six-speed manual. 

Nissan hasn’t yet released images of the interior but promises quality materials and high equipment levels.

Features that are set to be offered under Nissan’s Safety Shield technology banner include lane departure warning, blind spot warning and moving object detection systems.