Having been spied on Thai roads for a few months, the new 2023 Nissan Almera facelift has just been launched in the Kingdom. The updated Almera receives a brand-new look in front and some enhanced safety features.

Obviously, you can’t help but not notice the refreshed design on the front as the new Almera gained a bold V-motion grille that was first seen on its American twin, the Nissan Versa which was updated last year.

Every other angle on the exterior that isn’t the front though remains the same as the pre-facelift. Do shout out in the comments if you prefer the more aggressive look of the facelift or the more elegant design of the pre-facelift Almera.

Also read: What are the prettiest common cars ever sold in Malaysia?

The new Thai-spec Almera also comes with a new exterior colour, Gray Sky Pearl which shifts colour depending on the day. In a low-light environment, the colour may look purplish but in full sunlight, the shade would appear blue.

Meanwhile, the interior is also largely unchanged but higher variants of the new Almera receive a sporty blue trim across the dashboard and the door trims. Another additional feature on the updated Almera is a wireless charger which is also only on the higher variants.

Also retained from the pre-facelift is the powertrain which is the turbocharged 1.0-litre HR0 3-cylinder unit that makes 100 PS and 152 Nm. The small engine shares a similarity with the Nissan GT-R via bore spray coating on the cylinders.

Also read: The all-new 2020 Nissan Almera’s engine has something lifted from the R35 GT-R!

The 3-pot is paired to Nissan’s Xtronic CVT automatic transmission that drives the front wheels and Nissan claims the Thai-spec Almera has a fuel consumption of 23 km/L (4.34 L/100 km). There seems to be no Almera Hybrid as previously speculated for now.

Also read: Bezza more fuel-efficient than Axia? Top 5 most efficient cars under RM 100k

As mentioned in the title, there is still another department that the new Almera gets an enhancement besides the front grille. The new Almera gets tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), high beam assist (HBA), and lane departure warning (LDW) but this along with the full suite of Nissan’s 360° Safety Shield ADAS is only on the highest-spec Almera, the VL.

Other safety features offered include:

• Rear cross traffic alert (RCTA)
• Moving object detection (MOD)
• Intelligent Forward Collision Warning (IFCW)
• Blind spot warning (BSW)

In Thailand, the Nissan Almera is offered in 4 variants which are E, EL, V, and VL. Prices for the updated Almera range from THB 549k to 699k (~RM 72.5k-92.4k). That's the same price range as the Toyota Yaris Ativ (Vios in Malaysia).

Also read: Toyota Yaris Ativ (Vios) sold 3x more than Honda City in Q1 2023 in Thailand

It has been nearly 3 years since Edaran Tan Chong Motor (ETCM) launched the Nissan Almera in Malaysia and aside from the Tomei bodykit, there have been no significant updates for the B-segment sedan here. There’s no doubt that the Almera still holds its merits today but could the facelift help to elevate the underdog if it were to be launched here?

Also read: Review: Same price as Vios G, we take a trip to Teluk Intan to see if the Nissan Almera is still competitive in 2023