Nissan Tekton

The Nissan Tekton is a rebadged avatar of the Renault Duster, which has just been launched in India from Rs 10.49 lakh (ex-showroom) The carmaker is calling it the ‘Baby Patrol’, although it has little to do with that nameplate. But that goes to show how significant this product is for the carmaker in the country,  because it only has the budget-oriented Magnite and the recently added Gravite (also a rebadged Renault) in its mass-market portfolio. With the Tekton, Nissan hopes to capture some of the premium segment with this new launch.

But with rivals like the Tata Sierra, Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, Toyota Hyryder/Maruti Grand Vitara and Maruti Victoris, it won’t at all be easy for the Tekton. 

So does it have what it takes to charm you in what is the most contested car segment in the country?

The Renault Duster is one of the most butch-looking SUVs you can buy in the segment, and the Tekton takes the same approach. It is a rebadged version of the Renault Duster, but the treatment is similar to what we’ve seen with the Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun, where the cars have their own identity.

Up front, the Nissan Tekton has a properly dominating nose. The edge of the bonnet proudly reads ‘Tekton’, and just below it are the inverted L-shaped LED DRLs that are connected by a light bar in between.

The horizontally stacked LED headlights sit below it, just above another panel cutting across the grille, which has a red insert on it for some contrast. In the middle of the bar sits the Nissan logo.

The bumper looks properly chunky and rugged with the silver skid plate finish that flanks from both sides, making the Tekton look like it's flexing its muscles. Within the skid plate is also a LED fog light. 

In profile, the Tekton carries forward the flared body arches, chunky wheel cladding and side skirts, the C-pillar mounted rear door handles and roof rails from the Renault Duster. Even the plaque on the front door has a similar treatment design-wise with different lettering (obviously). 

What’s new are the wheels. The size is the same at 18-inches, but the design is quite snazzy. Lower variants get smaller 16-inch wheels. 

From the rear, the Nissan Tekton looks modern with a contemporary connected LED lighting setup with a C-shape design towards the edges. The roof mounted spoiler looks sporty, but the bumper looks thick and solid. To take a more comprehensive look at the Tekton's design, check out our image gallery.

The Nissan Tekton is available in the following 6 colour options: Pearl White, Blade Silver, Onyx Black, Moonbow Gray, Flare Garnet Red, and Indigo Blue. Except for the Black hue, all other colour options can be paired along with a black roof for dual-tone. Not all variants get all the colours - to know which gets what, check out this report.

Just like the exterior, the interior of the Nissan Tekton takes the layout of the Renault Duster, but sprinkles different visual finishes. That being said, the similarities here are more than the outside, which is a good thing in the larger scheme of things because the Duster’s cabin is a good place to be in.

As a result, you get a modern-looking cabin, which feels like a cockpit from the driver’s point of view with the central screen and console tilted slightly towards the right. The dashboard is predominantly black but you do get some contrasting elements.

The screens are based on the same bezel, and the infotainment does take up a significant chunk of the dashboard, but there still are physical toggles for climate control in the centre. The button for the ventilated is towards the side of the front seats. 

Front Seats

The ingress egress of the Nissan Tekton is comfortable, and so are the seats. There’s a wide range of adjustment with tilt and telescopic movement in the steering wheel and 6-way power adjustment for the front seats alongside manual lumbar adjustment for the driver.

Rear Seats

The Tekton isn’t the most spacious car in its segment. Someone with an average height of 5’8 won’t have any problems in being chauffeured comfortably. But passengers taller than 5’11 sitting behind another equally tall person will have limited knee room, but no issues in headroom, footroom or underthigh support.

For convenience, there’s a central armrest, seat back pockets, and rear AC vents. Compared to the segment rear sun shades are missing. We have covered the variant-wise features of the Tekton, here.

The features list of the Nissan Tekton is on-par with the segment with nothing exceptional, but neither is anything critical missing. 

The basics are covered by features like passive keyless entry, push button start/stop, automatic headlights, auto up/down for all four windows, automatic wipers, auto-dimming IRVM, wireless phone charging with type-C ports and auto AC with rear AC vents.

At the centre of the tech package is the 10.2-inch infotainment touchscreen. It has vibrant graphics and smooth user interface with wireless connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. This screen also has in-built Google features like Google Maps, so you don’t always have to connect your phone for navigation.

For audio duties, the screen is paired to a 6-speaker sound system. The driver gets a fully digital 10.25-inch display with a sharp resolution and bright colours. The lower variant gets a smaller 7-inch TFT display. 

Other premium features include powered front seats with ventilation, panoramic sunroof, powered tailgate, and connected car technology.

The safety net of the Nissan Tektoon includes features like 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control (ESC), hill-start assist, and ISOFIX mounts as standard. 

Higher variants add features like front and rear parking sensors with a 360-degree camera, and Level-2 ADAS systems like lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control. There is no blind-view camera like some of its rivals get, which is a miss. However, do note that the Tekton has secured a 5-star safety rating from Bharat NCAP (full crash test decode here).

Just like the Duster, the Nissan Tekton offers a bit boot with a space of 700-litres on paper. There is also 60:40 split functionality in case you want to carry larger items.

Underneath the very muscular bonnet of the Nissan Tekton are the same two turbo-petrol engines that you get in the Duster. However, unlike its French sibling which is due to get a hybrid powertrain soon, the Tekton will miss out on that option. Here are the specifications:

^DCT= Dual clutch automatic transmission

Buying advice: The turbo-petrol engine shared with the Duster is the most powerful unit in the segment. But as we’ve seen in the Duster, it won’t be the quickest of the lot. Choose this if you want effortless performance on the highways, or if the convenience of an automatic is mandatory. Otherwise, the smaller engine is good enough for a mixed usage. Check which variant gets which engine option here. 

The Nissan Tekton is available in a total of seven variants: Visia, Visia Plus, Acenta, N-Connecta, Tekna and Tekna Plus. To know more about the specific variants in detail, check out our explainers below:

• Tekton's Base-spec Visia variant explained
• One-above-base Visia Plus variant explained

On paper, the Nissan Tekton seems to be a complete package with a modern design, interior, feel-good features, hi-tech safety package and powerful turbo-petrol engine options. All that remains to be seen is whether it still has that dynamic balance of the Duster, which is equal parts comfortable on bad roads and fun around corners, making it the best driver’s car in the segment. We have compared the Tekton to many of its rivals on paper:

• Nissan Tekton vs Tata Sierra
• Nissan Tekton vs Kia Seltos
• Nissan Tekton vs Hyundai Creta
• Nissan Tekton vs Skoda Kushaq