America's Second-cheapest Nissan Bows Out of the Market

Journalists who holler nonstop for “affordable cars!” have one less model to choose from. As it isn’t a vehicle patterned off the original Fiat 124/Lada 1200, with the quality and handling of a BMW, suffice it to say the Nissan Versa Note probably didn’t rank high on their might-buy list.

And yet the Versa Note did offer buyers a cheap way to move five people and a decent amount of cargo from place to place, with a standard continuously variable automatic sweetening the pot for those who never bothered learning a stick. After 2019, it’s gone from North American dealers.

This sad(?) bit of news comes by way of CarsDirect, which discovered, via order guides, that the Mexican-built four-door hatch stands to end production this month. The overseas Nissan Note, built in the UK and Japan, seems to be safe in those markets.

Nissan spokesman Jeff Wandell confirmed the model’s discontinuation, telling CarsDirect, “Starting with the introduction of the redesigned 2020 model the Versa will only be offered as a sedan. Sales of the hatchback Versa Note in North America will end after the 2019 model year.”

Expect to see a next-generation Versa sedan debut at an event in Florida next week, the publication claims.

While Nissan Canada hasn’t confirmed the model’s discontinuation in that market (we’re waiting for a response), buyers living north of the border don’t have the option of getting into a Versa sedan. The Versa Note stands alone up there, undercut in price only by the aging Micra subcompact. It’s possible the next-gen Versa sedan will appear in its place, but again, no confirmation on that front.

In the U.S., the Versa Note retails for $16,535 after delivery and offers a singular powertrain — a 1.6-liter four-cylinder making 109 horsepower and 107 lb-ft of torque, mated to the aforementioned CVT. Versa sedan buyers can drive away for less money, with that model offering a five-speed manual in a base trim that stickers for $13,245. Equipped with a CVT, the sedan come out $1,150 cheaper.

CarsDirect, um, notes that inventory of the Versa hatch have practically dried up in the U.S., with fewer than 300 examples remaining.

The Nissan Versa Note’s wind-down comes after the automaker foisted the subcompact, front-drive-only Kicks crossover on North American buyers for the 2018 model year. The plucky Kicks, which offers decent ground clearance and a peppier version of the 1.6-liter, earned applause for a pre-destination starting price below 18 grand. For 2019, that entry price rose to $19,585 after destination.

In Canada, the base Kicks S continues with its launch MSRP of $17,998, though destination brings that total to $19,793. A Versa Note starts at $16,348 after destination.

Is the Kicks the answer to buyers let down by the Versa Note’s cancellation? Perhaps, but the two models aren’t exactly rubbing shoulders in terms of price. Of course, it’s not like Nissan faced growing demand for the Versa line. Sales of both hatch and sedan (Nissan doesn’t break down the two models in its sales reporting) fell 29 percent in the U.S. in 2018, and the first three months of 2019 shows a less severe decline of 1.5 percent.

Kicks sales in the first quarter of 2019 stand at almost half the Versa’s volume (12,519 to the Versa’s 24,992).

[Image: Nissan]