The Nissan Tiida is a small car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Nissan since 2004, spanning two generations. The “Tiida” name means “sun” in the Okinawan language, a nod to the name of its predecessor, the Nissan Sunny.
For the first generation of Tiida manufactured between 2004 and 2012, the series is designated C11 and was sold as a five-door hatchback and four-door sedan. This model straddled the subcompact and compact car segments.[1] It retailed in North America as Nissan Versa, in parts of South America as Dodge Trazo, and in Southeast Asia for the sedan only under the title Nissan Latio. The C11 bridged the subcompact and compact car classes, acting as an intermediate model between the smaller Micra/March and larger Bluebird Sylphy and Sentra models within the global Nissan portfolio. Therefore, depending on the market, the C11 replaced different models and engrossed different segments. For example, in Japan the Tiida replaced the Nissan Sunny (B15) in Nissan’s lineup as the smallest sedan. In most markets it slotted between the March and Bluebird Sylphy; for North America it became a new entry-level model below the Sentra; and elsewhere Tiida tended to occupy the role performed previously by the Nissan Almera/Pulsar/Sentra/Sunny (N16), sold in Japan as the Bluebird Sylphy (G10). The G10/N16’s successor, the Bluebird Sylphy G11 was not widely sold outside Japan. The C11 started to be phased out in China first, during 2011 when partially replaced by the larger, compact class C12 Tiida/Pulsar hatchback. In 2012, the C11 began to be withdrawn from more markets as its main production bases ceased manufacture. The C11 was also replaced by the subcompact Nissan Note or Versa Note (E12) hatchback, and on the sedan fronts, by the subcompact Almera/Latio/Sunny/Versa (N17) and the compact Nissan Pulsar/Sylphy/Sentra (B17).
Nissan introduced a second generation of Tiida, the five-door hatchback C12 series in 2011 to the Chinese market. Starting in 2013, sales began in Thailand, then Australia and New Zealand as the Nissan Pulsar. The C12 represents a departure from the C11, increasing its dimensions to comfortably occupy the compact class. The C12’s development was anchored with the Nissan Pulsar/Sylphy/Sentra (B17) which is effectively the sedan version of the C12.
