Nissan Targets Ford Focus RS and Honda Civic with Sentra NISMO; They Go After a New Demographic

It’s the first mainstream car Nissan has produced with the NISMO badge. The 2017 Nissan Sentra NISMO will go after the Ford Focus RS with a performance package and the Honda Civic performance model expected in the US. They also go after a new demographic not reached with the Sentra.

Nissan will also go after a young millennial male market that hasn’t been interested in the Sentra compact sedan. Their audience up to this point has been predominantly young females who have purchased the compact car. But Nissan wants to change things with the Sentra NISMO performance model.

Ken Kcomt, Nissan's director of product planning for passenger cars and sports cars said at the unveiling in LA, ”This is the first core model, mass execution that we've had for NISMO. It broadens the appeal, targeting a young male customer to the compact sedan category, which skews heavily female."

When Nissan unveiled the new performance Sentra during the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, true performance fans didn’t get too excited. The Sentra NISMO uses the same 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder engine introduced in the Sentra SR. It offers the same 188 hp with 177 pounds-feet of torque.

Nissan is not targeting the performance enthusiast looking for 250hp. They want a demographic which wants a sporty ride with a new look. Nissan needed to keep the price point below $25,000 to accomplish this goal. It looks like they succeeded.

Source: Nissan, Automotive News

Photo: Nissan