Why did Nissan drop the 'Grand' in all-new Livina?

Nissan PH boss explains why their MPV is now simply called Livina

It goes without saying that names play a pivotal role in a vehicle's appeal. Not only does it have to be catchy, but it also has to be easy to remember and will stick to people's minds. Nissan is no stranger to this as they have several famous nameplates.

From the GT-R, Sentra, X-Trail, the Fairlady Z, Frontier, Pathfinder, Patrol, and even the Bluebird, Nissan knows a thing or two about naming their cars. So when the automaker brought back its MPV to the Philippine market, we were surprised to see that Nissan made some changes to its name.

Instead of being called Grand Livina, the 7-seater is now simply called the 'Livina'. Puzzled by the name change, we asked Nissan Philippines Inc (NPI) president Juan Manuel Hoyos why they opted to drop the Grand name from the Livina.

According to Hoyos, the removal of the Grand nomenclature was done in order to make the Livina name stand out more. The dropping of the Grand is also the automaker's way to make the names of their vehicles more direct. However, the reason for calling the MPV simply the Livina might have been a regional decision too, which we'll get to later.

Before their pickup was simply called the Navara, Nissan used to call the previous generation the Frontier Navara. While Nissan could have just continued using the Frontier name for the Philippine market as before, around the world, the automaker was already using the Navara name. Rather than immediately dropping the Frontier name, Nissan decided to keep it so the market can be more familiar with the new Navara name. The Frontier was only dropped when the company launched the next-generation pick-up back in 2015. 

With Indonesia (from where the MPV is sourced) already using the Livina name for the Xpander-based 7-seater, it stands to reason that the Philippine market also uses it here. It wouldn't make sense for NPI to reuse the Grand Livina name when it's already called the Livina for the ASEAN market.

Do you think Nissan's decision to drop the Grand from the Livina is a sound one? Or do you still prefer it with Grand nomenclature? Let us know in the comments.