Nissan Terrano vs rivals - variant comparison

The highly anticipated Nissan Terrano SUV is finally here with a starting price of ₹ 9.6 lakh, stretching to ₹ 12.46 lakh for the top-spec 108.5bhp XV Premium variant. But how does it compare, feature wise, with its two main competitors in this segment, the Ford EcoSport and its own sibling, the Renault Duster?

First, the prices. As mentioned earlier, the Nissan Terrano occupies a price range of ₹ 9.6 lakh to ₹ 12.46 lakh, while the Renault Duster's price range is ₹ 7.99 lakh to ₹ 12.18 lakh. So it's clear to see that while the Renault has a significantly lower entry price (₹ 1.6 lakh less than the Nissan), the price gap narrows as you move higher up the variants (only ₹ 28,000 separates the two cars' top-end variants).

Then comes the current segment king, Ford's EcoSport. The carmaker has really nailed it with the pricing of its compact SUV, with prices starting from ₹ 5.82 lakh for the base petrol variant, going up to ₹ 9.37 lakh for the top-end 1.5-litre Titanium (O) diesel variant. That's a whole ₹ 2.81 lakh less than the top-spec Duster.

What's more, the Ford's competitive pricing hasn't come at the cost of features either; it's as well equipped as the other two cars here.Take, for example, safety kit like ABS with EBD and dual airbags. On the Duster, it's available as standard only on the top-spec RxL (O) trim, which costs ₹ 10.96 lakh. On the Terrano, it is available on the XL trim, which (surprisingly) costs ₹ 30,000 less than the Duster at ₹ 10.66 lakh. But on the EcoSport, it's yours for a relatively meagre ₹ 8.99 lakh on the 1.5-litre Titanium diesel variant.

Even in terms of other features, the Ford still comes through as the least expensive. Kit like front fog-lights, 16-inch alloys, rear parking sensors, tilt steering and keyless entry is available on the Ford's Titanium trim for ₹ 8.99 lakh, which is significantly cheaper than the other two here. To get this kit on the Nissan Terrano (sans the rear parking sensors, which are only available on the higher 108.5bhp XV variant), you'll have to shell out nearly ₹ 2 lakh more (₹ 10.94 lakh) for the XL Plus variant. The Duster gets this kit as standard on the 84bhp RxL (O) variant, which costs marginally more than the Terrano at ₹ 10.96 lakh.

The only major thorn in Ford's side at this point is its lengthy waiting period for the EcoSport. Regardless of how competitively priced the car is, Ford runs the risk of putting more and more people off by having waiting periods that stretch to almost four months for certain variants.