DETROIT -- Nissan North America is bringing a car smaller than the Sentra to its U.S. lineup within the next two years. Its latest concept for such as car draws a bead on Toyota's Scion lineup.

Nissan's Sport Concept hatchback is marked by wide body flares over 20-inch wheels, a rear spoiler and a sloping, angled hood. The concept was shown Thursday night at Nissan's new design studio in suburban Detroit -- even though the vehicle was created at the automaker's design studio in Atsugi, Japan. The concept gets wide exposure next week during the New York auto show.

The concept, which has some resemblance to the Nissan Tiida sedan sold in Japan, is based on the automaker's B-segment platform. Yet Nissan says it was designed to comfortably fit four passengers.

The concept measures 171.3 inches from bumper to bumper. That puts it within a couple of inches of the Scion tC coupe, and 6 inches shorter than the current Sentra. But the concept's 102.4-inch wheelbase tops the Sentra's wheelbase by nearly 3 inches.

Inside, each passenger gets their own seat with large side bolsters, raised center section in the seat bottom and integrated, four-point seatbelts. The stereo system includes a large speaker and subwoofer mounted in the rear parcel shelf.

The Sport Concept is the third that Nissan has shown over the past 18 months offering different looks at injecting some style to its small-car lineup. The earlier concepts were the wagon-like Actic and the sporty Azeal coupe.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY NISSAN

Nissan Sport Concept Brings Nissan Sports Thinking To
Small Car Segment in New York Auto Show Debut

The Nissan Sport Concept, which will make its public world debut at the 2005 New York International Auto Show, is the latest in a series of dynamic performance/youth concept vehicles following the Nissan Actic and Nissan AZEAL concepts.
The Sport Concept is a dynamic three-door hatchback with a dramatic four-seat interior. It offers the look and feel of a sports tuner car, yet is conceived as an affordable, attainable vehicle for buyers entering the new car market for the first time.
“The story behind the development of the Sport Concept, AZEAL and Actic is that Nissan is thinking big about the small car segment,” said Jack Collins, vice president, product planning, Nissan North America, Inc. “With these three design explorations, we’re focusing on how we can bring Nissan’s heritage of innovation, sportiness and driving pleasure to a category of vehicles that traditionally lack design excitement and strong visual appeal.”
“The Nissan Sport Concept, like the AZEAL and Actic before it, is first and foremost a showcase of future thinking, yet it is also a car that would be right at home in Nissan showrooms in the not-too-distant future,” said Collins. “Nissan has a strong global lineup of compact enthusiast vehicles, including the March, Cube, Tiida, Note and Sentra SE-R, and, in the Nissan 350Z, one of the world’s most desirable sports cars. The new Nissan Sport Concept fuses the best of both worlds.”
The exterior of the Nissan Sport Concept combines shapes and forms that are both geometrical and mechanical in feel, creating a sense of acceleration and kinetic energy. The dynamic fender forms give the special Pearl White-painted body a look of pure, almost animal performance. Its athletic roofline is marked by a large rear roof-mounted spoiler, while its bold surface composition, robust fender character lines, deep front spoiler and side sills, and large wheels and tires provide an animated, video game-like stance.
The body construction utilizes both metal and carbon-fiber composite components. The 20-inch six-spoke aluminum-alloy wheels feature a machined and lustrous paint finish surface treatment. The Sport Concept’s headlights and rear combination lights utilize small lamps with multi-layered reflectors.
“The Nissan Sport Concept may be small dimensionally but it is large in its dynamic energy – aggressive, highly functional and definitely street-wise,” said Collins.
The interior of the Sport Concept is designed to fit four adults comfortably, yet with an emphasis on the front two seats – with every element of the cockpit existing to enhance the vehicle’s engaging driving experience.
The deep, body-wrapping front bucket seats are covered in Wolf Gray leather with double-layered pearl suede inserts and feature formed head restraints and integrated 4-point seat belts. The instrument panel includes integrated tachometer and gauges and a distinctive center cluster. The Sport Concept interior also offers a three-spoke steering wheel and solid-appearance center console with the emergency brake lever integrated into the console lid.
In the rear of the cabin, independent rear seat cushions, also covered in a combination of leather and suede, offer true four-place seating.


Like in front, the 4-point seat belts are integrated into the seats. Other features include center console-mounted support grips and a large blue-cone speaker and woofer located in the rear parcel shelf.
“The Nissan Sport Concept is as close to performance art for the street as you can get – modern, cool, ready to run,” said Collins. “When it comes to the next wave of small car design, a SHIFT_ is about to be made. And Nissan is making it.”

At a Glance: Nissan Sport Concept


The Nissan Sport Concept, which will make its public world debut at the 2005 New York International Auto Show, is the latest in a series of dynamic performance/youth concept vehicles, following the Nissan Actic and Nissan AZEAL concepts.
The Sport Concept is a dynamic three-door hatchback with a dramatic four-seat interior. It offers the look and feel of a sports tuner car, yet is conceived as an affordable, attainable vehicle for buyers entering the new car market for the first time. The Sport Concept is designed to bring Nissan’s heritage of innovation, sportiness and driving pleasure to a category of vehicles that traditionally lack excitement and strong visual appeal.
Highlights of the Nissan Sport Concept include:

Exterior
· Aggressive, athletic roofline with large rear spoiler
· Bold surface composition and robust fender character lines
· Large, muscular front bumper air intake with large wings
· Rear bumper outlet with strong negative surface and bold composition
· Projector-style headlights and rear combination lamps with multi-layered reflectors
· 20-inch aluminum-alloy six-spoke wheels with machined and painted surface treatment
· Extensive use of carbon-fiber composite parts
· Pearl White metallic paint
· Wheelbase – 102.4 inches
· Overall length 171.3 inches
· Overall height 59.1 inches
· Overall width 71. 1 inches

Interior
· Driver-oriented cockpit designed to enhance the driving experience
· 2+2 seating with emphasis on the deep, body-wrapping front seats with built-in 4-point seat belts
· Front seats covered in Wolf Gray leather with double-layered pearl suede inserts
· Sporty instrument panel with integrated tachometer and gauges
· Distinctive center console with emergency brake lever integrated into the console lid, distinctive sport-throw shifter lever
· Leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel
· Individual rear seats with built-in 4-point seat belts, leather and suede coverings





· Rear console-mounted support grips
· Large blue-cone speaker and woofer located in rear parcel shelf

Design
· Designed, created and managed by Nissan Design, Nissan Technical Center, Atsugi, Japan