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Infiniti ESQ is a Chinese Nissan Juke Nismo

Take a Nissan Juke Nismo, replace all of its suede and Alcantara interior with leather and cross-stitching, replace all of its badging with the words "Infiniti ESQ," and boom! You've got a made-for-China crossover aimed at "the new millennials." Infiniti teased the coming of the ESQ last month, and today, we're treated to pictures taking it in from various toothsome angles.
Whippersnappers with anywhere from 200,000 yuan ($33,507 USD) to 300,000 yuan to spend will get the same 197 horsepower, 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, sport-tuned CVT and all-wheel drive that we know in the Juke Nismo. We haven't tracked down any other official information about it yet, but potential buyers will get their first look at it during the Chengdu Motor Show that opens later this month, where it will share market-specific notes with Infiniti Q50 L.

Dacia Duster to spawn inexpensive Nissan Terrano, will we get it?

When going to overseas auto shows, one can't help but spend an inordinate amount of time eyeballing forbidden automotive fruit. It's often of the seriously rare, criminally powerful and six- or seven-digit variety. But more often than one might think, the genuinely affordable overseas hero makes us swoon, too. So it is with the Dacia/Renault Duster, the cheap-as-chips, hard-wearing utility vehicle. We've often thought that its basic, rugged charms would play well in the US if saddled with a low enough price tag, but we've never seen much of a window for that to actually come true.
But now, Autocar India is reporting that Nissan will flex its alliance with Renault to spin off a Duster of its own, one that exhumes the Terrano nameplate, a moniker once used for overseas versions of the first- and second-generation Pathfinder. The new model will feature unique sheetmetal to give it a familial look, but the interior will be the same, and we expect the same goes for the powertrain, meaning there will be a range of gasoline and diesel four-cylinder engines with both manual and automatic gearboxes and front- or all-wheel drive.
So, does that mean we'll get a Nissan version of the Duster-based Terrano to call our own? Sadly, almost certainly not. Company spokesman Dan Bedore tells Autoblog flatly, "There are no plans to bring this model to the US." Bummer. Even if it isn't ultimately as capable as the larger, long-in-the-tooth Xterra (it's more on par with the now departed Canadian-market X-Trail), we think the Duster's archetypal SUV looks and low cost barrier would win it plenty of fans in our market. Our guess is that redesigning the model to meet US regulations (crash, emissions, lighting, etc.) would be prohibitively expensive, and the Dacia/Renault model is built in some pretty distant facilities - Brazil, India, Romania and Russia among them - making the business case harder still.

Chip shortage will hit Nissan, Suzuki and Mitsubishi in June

TOKYO — A global chip shortage is forcing Nissan and Suzuki to temporarily halt production at some plants in June, sources with direct knowledge of the plans told Reuters on Friday. Nissan will idle its factory in Kyushu, southern Japan, for three days on June 24, 25 and 28, while making production adjustments during the month at its Tochigi and Oppama plants in Japan, three sources said. Nissan will also temporarily halt production of some of its models at its Mexico plant, they said, declining to be identified because the plan is not public. "A global shortage of semiconductors has affected parts procurement in the auto sector. Due to the shortage, Nissan is adjusting production and taking necessary actions to ensure recovery," a Nissan spokeswoman said. Suzuki will idle its three plants in Shizuoka prefecture from three to nine days, two sources said, also declining to be identified because the plan is not public. The plan "has not been confirmed," a Suzuki spokesman said, explaining that while the carmaker gave its provisional production plan to auto part makers, it is still making adjustments to minimize the impact of the chip shortage. Elsewhere, Mitsubishi will reduce production by 30,000 vehicles in total in June at five plants in Japan, Thailand and Indonesia, a spokeswoman said, adding that the impact has already been factored into its earnings outlook for the current fiscal year. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Plants/Manufacturing Mitsubishi Nissan Suzuki