About Nissan Platina
On some markets, Nissan was better known than Renault, and some of the French carmaker products used that advantage to sell its products, such as this Nissan Platina.
When Renault needed a budget vehicle in 1999, it took a second generation of the Clio, added a trunk on it, and call it a day. The new product was named Thalia or Clio Symbol on the European market, while the Latin-American sector had the same vehicle named as Nissan Platina. It was one of the most successful badge-engineered products within the Renault-Nissan Alliance in the late-'90s early-'2000s.
The Thalia/Symbol was refreshed in 1999, and the 2006 Platina featured the new front fascia with bigger, triangular-shaped headlights swept-back on the front fenders. Its wrapped-around plastic bumper was extended upward and included the two-slat Nissan grille with the round chromed badge in the middle. Depending on the trim level, it featured black or body-colored door handles and mirrors. Its C-pillar was very thick since it was transformed from the hatchback to the sedan version. Renault added an impressively large for its class trunk in the back.
Inside, the carmaker installed a rounded dashboard with hard plastic all over the place. On the center stack, Nissan installed the CD radio above the climate-control rotary dials. Inside the instrument cluster, the car featured two large dials for the speedometer and tachometer and two gauges for the fuel level and coolant temperature. A panel with warning lights completed the information provided by the car and an LCD for the odometer.
Unlike the Clio Symbol/Thalia, which used the 1.4-liter and the 1.5-liter turbo-diesel units, the Platina used a 1.6-liter 16-valves engine and paired it with a five-speed manual gearbox.