Nissan NV2000

The Japanese automaker has built on recent success with its super-sleek light commercial vehicle, the Nissan NV2000 by announcing a new version for India that will be built in partnership with Ashok Leyland. It will see production of the NV2000 begin at its plant near Chennai, in the south of the country.

The India the NV2000 launch has been scheduled for the middle of the year and there is plenty more happening with the NV2000 elsewhere around the globe, too.

Nissan NV200 New York Tax pictured above.

Perhaps the vehicle’s biggest coup to date was the announcement in May last year that it had won an exclusive new contract to provide New York City with 13,000 new cabs, starting from next year. This means it will be decked out in yellow and will be a mainstay of Manhattan and elsewhere across the Big Apple as part of a 10-year deal.

Electric NY Cab Fleet

The European 1.5-litre diesel version does an impressive 54.4 miles per gallon in average driving conditions, but a new electric version of the NV2000 is also planned and could be a part of the New York City cab fleet by 2017, according to Nissan.

So what has made the Nissan NV2000 such a sensation since it was first launched as a concept vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show back in 2007? Well, the vehicle seems to have been able to turn what would appear to be a major weakness into a key strength. After all, not many van lookalikes manage to make it big in the passenger vehicle segment, especially with the advent of the SUV crossover 7-seaters that have taken the European and North American markets by storm in recent years.

Perhaps that is the secret of the NV2000. Where four-wheel drives and SUVs managed to evolve into large family vehicles that still look sleek and sporty, this Nissan vehicle seems to have followed, reinventing the concept in the van segment. After all, it looks like a van and can be used for cargo or transporting several passengers at once. But it does more than that.