Nissan Magnite joins the unique club of CNG AMT cars in India. Should you buy this SUV?

Nissan has joined the unique club of CNG-AMT cars in India with its Magnite SUV. The Nissan Magnite, which is the key revenue churner for the Japanese automaker in India, has now received a factory-approved CNG retrofitment kit option. The CNG kit retrofitment option will be available for the Nissan Magnite AMT. This will allow the buyers of the Magnite SUV the convenience of an AMT gearbox as well as the fuel efficiency and value proposition of the petrol-CNG bifuel propulsion technology.

With this, Nissan has joined Tata Motors, which was he first auto OEM in the Indian passenger vehicle market to launch CNG-AMT technology. Tata Motors launched the Tiago CNG-AMT and Tigor CNG-AMT. The Nissan Magnite joins the same list with the CNG-AMT technology. However, unlike the Magnite, the Tiago and Tigor CNG-AMT models came with a factory-fitted CNG kit.

The CNG retrofitment kit for the Nissan Magnite comes at a price of ₹71,999, which is cheaper by ₹3,000 than before, thanks to the tax rate cut benefit under the GST 2.0 regime. Under the new tax regime, the GST rate has been slashed to 18% from the erstwhile 28%. The Nissan Magnite's CNG kit has been developed in collaboration with Motozen Fuel Systems and comes as a government-approved kit. The interested buyers can get it installed exclusively at the authorised Nissan retrofitment centres.

Nissan Magnite CNG kit: 3-year/ 100,000 km warranty

The Nissan Magnite CNG with AMT comes with a re-engineered integrated fuel cap, which houses both petrol and CNG valves under the same fuel lid, which is a notable change from the previous design philosophy, where the CNG valve was located in the engine bay. Adding more value to the CNG retrofitment kit will be a three-year or one lakh kilometre warranty, assuring the consumers' peace of mind.

However, the warranty for the CNG kit is provided by the supplier of the kit, not the OEM. Also, the warranty will be void if the CNG kit is tampered with, or installed by unauthorised personnel, or used in violation of operating guidelines. Also, the warranty is applicable only to private registration and will be considered void in case of commercial registration by the customer. Further, if the customer is reselling the SUV in future, it is his or her responsibility to inform about the terms and conditions. Nissan has stated that the CNG cylinder should be hydro-tested every three years, as per the government norms.

Nissan Magnite CNG kit: Where is it available?

The Nissan Magnite CNG retrofitment kit is now available in 13 states across India, including Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, among others. Expect the car manufacturer to expand the CNG retrofitment program to other states in the coming months.

Nissan Magnite CNG-AMT: What powers it?

The Nissan Magnite CNT AMT gets power from a 1.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine. The engine can run on CNG as well. For transmission duty, this variant gets a five-speed AMT gearbox, bringing the convenience of dual pedal technology at an affordable cost as compared to the fully automatic transmission technology.

The petrol engine, mated to the five-speed AMT gearbox, is capable of churning out 71 bhp peak power at 6,250 rpm and 96 Nm of maximum torque between 3,400-3,600 rpm. The engine is also available with transmission choices, including a five-speed manual gearbox and a CVT unit.