Hi everyone, my name's Jerry.
I'm 38 and lives in Singapore, drives a leased '09 Versa sedan.
In this part of the world, the Versa is actually badged as the 'Latio'.
Singapore's Nissan Latio gets the all-aluminum HR15DE engine. The 1.5-litre lump produces 109 hp and 145 Nm (107 lb-ft) of torque mated to an old-school 4-speed automatic 'box and returns a decent, real-world 6.9L/100km (34mpg) in the combined cycle.
In our market, the Made-in-Japan Latio competes for sales in the compact class with rivals such as the Hyundai Elantra, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.
Following the launch of '12 Nissan Versa in Singapore - wait for it - marketed as the 'Almera' here (and in Malaysia too - hi Wei!), the 4-door Latio gets to be discontinued while the sporty 5-door hatch soldiers on. The Almera, a.k.a Versa in USA, is otherwise also the 'Sunny' in China. Yeah, tell me about it!
Truth be told: '12 Versa/Almera/Sunny sits on Renault-Nissan's shiny new small car 'V' (for Versatile) global platform and it's used on anything currently from the sub-compact Yaris-sized Nissan Micra hatch, to the Juke sub-compact SUV and next year's new Renault Clio small car.
In short, just like the the '11 Versa which was built upon a Renault-Nissan collaborated chassis from 2004 called the B-platform, it stands to reason that '12 Versa's closest competitors would be cars like the Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, KIA Rio and Toyota Yaris, all of which according to US EPA are B-segment's sub-compacts.
It's rumored Nissan will launch the '13 Nissan Tiida (a replacement for the original Versa/Latio) in China, possibly in 2012 as a year 2013 model. The new car uses an extended version of the 2004-2011 Versa B-platform. The still-secret car is seen here via a couple of spy pictures:
http://forums.asiaone.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=373.
The second generation Tiida will employ Juke's turbocharging technology (DiG Turbo) to provide extra oomph and improves fuel economy. Watch out, Veedub TSI!
More pictures to follow if time permit.
Have a nice day!
*Update* 16 Dec '11. There are now more photos of the car at
http://photobucket.com/latio.