2012 Nissan NV Van is no stranger to trucks. Commercial vehicles make up 20% of their sales worldwide, but they've never fielded a commercial-grade truck in the US or Canada -- until now. Nissan offers several large vans in Asia and Europe, so why not just bring one of those over here? Nissan did extensive research into the van market, and found that none of their existing products would fit our needs. The key result of their research was that most people who own or drive a Ford, Chevrolet or GMC van don't like it.
So Nissan set out to design a commercial van that would suit the needs of North American small business owner-operators -- and that's how the NV came to be. Did they succeed? Let's drive the 2012 Nissan NV and find out.
The NV certainly looks like a vehicle designed by committee. The reasons for the huge schnozzle are twofold: First, the NV is based (loosely) on the Titan pickup truck. Second, van drivers said they don't like having the engine with them in the cab, it generates heat and robs legroom. Nissan says the long hood makes for easier maintenance, although seeing how low and far back the engine is mounted, it doesn't look that way to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment