NISSAN believes its new Primera will be the most advanced medium sized car available when it goes on sale on March 1. Almost two-thirds of the Primera range will be available from day one, with the rest following in July.

Initially, there will be a choice of four-door saloon or five-door estate with three trim levels known as S, SE and SVE.

These will be available with three different engines: a 1.8-litre 116PS unit with manual or automatic gearboxes; 2.0-litre 140PS unit with six-speed manual or Nissan's M-CVT box which offers the driver a choice of automatic or manual gear selection; and a 2.2-litre 126PS turbo-diesel with six-speed manual gearbox.

Five-door hatchback variants follow in the summer.

Below the car's centrally-mounted instrument panel is a unique command centre known as N-FORM which was specially developed for ease of operation and sited to fall readily to hand. Less visual information is needed to find the required control with the buttons designed for instinctive use.