While the Toyota Vios and Honda City have made a lot of progress, Nissan Almera is still walking on the same pattern and pretty much remain the same as the previous version, except for some minor styling changes.

Entering the Malaysian market in 2012, the Almera was boasted of having class-leading rear legroom and boot space under a very competitive price. However, all these selling points were fading out since the launch of the all-new Honda City in 2014. New Toyota Vios also has equipped quietest cabin in its class.

Under such context, an all-new Nissan Versa, as the Almera knew before, is thus introduced in the second half of this year.

Outside, the all-new model sorted out the frumpy looking in the last version, borrowing the V-motion grille and semi-floating look C-pillars from the US-market Altima (Teana).

Inside, the trimming is done with a sportier finish. Brought in also the flat-bottom steering wheel and an infotainment system that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. While it's unclear which form of design would Nissan select for the Malaysian market. As a rule of thumb, Nissan used to offer slightly different dashboards for other regions.

Standard safety features (US market model) now includes Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Rear Automatic Braking, Lane Departure Warning and High Beam Assist. Also available on higher range variants are Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert, Intelligent Driver Alertness and Intelligent Cruise Control.

A different engine is featured in Almera in the US market - a 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder paired to a CVT-type automatic. While in other regions, the brand new Almera is expected to employ either 1.2-litre petrol (Thailand), 1.5-litre petrol (Malaysia, Indonesia), or a 1.5-litre diesel (India).

It's ecpected that the introduction of this brand-new Almera in Maylasia will not earlier than the year of 2021.