A few months ago, Nissan revealed its radical-looking new Elgrand minivan. This month, Japanese buyers can finally get their hands on it. While the concept-car looks are dramatic enough for most, some may want a little more. For those buyers, Nissan’s in-house customizing arm Autech has cooked up takes Nissan’s road-going spaceship and makes it fancy.
Nissan Elgrand Autech from the front three-quarter angleNissan
The Upgrades Are Subtle But Significant
As a quick refresher for those unfamiliar, Autech is one of Nissan’s sub-brands for specialty vehicles, a bit like Nismo. However, the brand is best known now for Nissan variants that focus on design and luxury, rather than performance like with Nismo. As such, all of the changes to the Elgrand Autech are related to the looks and feel, both inside and out. Up front, the Autech has a completely unique grille with metallic accents, rather than body color. It’s matched by a new front bumper extension, also given a metallic finish. On each side are distinct blue LED accent lights.
Continuing around the van, you’ll find Autech-exclusive 18-inch alloy wheels, and a mini side skirt extension just ahead of the rear wheel to match the bumpers. The side mirrors have also been finished in silver. Finally, the rear bumper gets its own metallic extension to complete the package.
Nissan Elgrand Autech from the rear three-quarter angleNissan
Inside, Autech fitted black leather, and lots of it. It covers the seats and even the dashboard. It’s all sewn up with blue contrast stitching and unique patterns on the seats, along with embroidered Autech logos.
In case not everything on the Elgrand Autech is to your taste, or just a bit more expensive than you’d like, Nissan also has an Elgrand Autech Line model. It uses only a few of the parts from the main Autech including the front bumper extension and wheels. It lacks the grille, accent lights, interior changes, and the rest of the body kit. Whether you go full Autech or not, each version is available with the exclusive dark blue featured across all Autech products.
Nissan Elgrand Autech interior shot showing the seatsNissan
The Rest Of The Van Is Stock
Unsurprisingly, considering Autech’s position in the Nissan portfolio, this fancy Elgrand receives no mechanical changes. It has the same suspension and powertrain as any other. Under the hood is a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine that makes 138 horsepower. It’s only there as a generator, though, as the Elgrand has Nissan’s latest generation of E-Power series hybrid powertrain. Propulsion comes from a pair of electric motors. The front motor makes 202 hp, and the rear makes 134. Nissan doesn’t give combined power ratings.
The Elgrand can be quite a plush people carrier, too. Adaptive suspension and active noise-cancelling are available. The rear seats can be optioned with pop-out foot rests. Plus, Nissan offers hands-off low-speed cruise control for stop-and-go traffic. Surprisingly, the Elgrand isn’t horribly expensive, though favorable exchange rates may play a role. The base model starts at ¥6,897,000, or $42,446 at the time of writing, roughly equivalent to the current Honda Odyssey. The full Autech model starts at $50,758.
Nissan Elgrand Autech from the frontNissan
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters
As cool as the regular Elgrand and its Autech sibling are, we don’t see either coming to America anytime soon. Although the minivan market is showing signs of increased popularity, SUVs remain the bulk of automakers’ sales. With Nissan needing to be smart about all of its product investments and planning to turn itself around, adapting the Elgrand wouldn’t be a good bet. It would be expensive to adapt it to US safety regulations and size needs, and it would be entering a relatively niche segment. The fact that Nissan hasn’t announced a van as one of its upcoming models for North America confirms that the company also thinks it’s not the best move.
