The Indian-Spec Nissan Kicks was unveiled today and we finally get a sense of how this new Hyundai Creta Rival looks like. The new Nissan Kicks has been among the highly anticipated models for the Japanese car maker as the company will finally dive into a segment that's been trending in the country and the sales too tell us that story. So far, the Indian car market has only seen near identical models coming from the Renault-Nissan alliance but the new Nissan Kicks, though based on the Renault Captur, gets a fair dose of alterations, to the design as also the features on offer. Having said that, the India-Spec Nissan Kicks is largely different from the one sold in the international markets, predominantly in the area of mechanicals and mass.
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The Nissan Kicks which is sold in the global markets is developed on the Nissan 'V Platform' which also underpins some of the hatches and sedans of the Renault-Nissan JV like the Nissan Micra, Nissan Sunny, Renault Pulse and Renault Scala. However, the Indian-Spec Nissan Kicks is underpinned by the more robust B0 Platform on which also the Renault Captur has been developed and will be highly localised which will help in keeping price in check.
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The Nissan Kicks sold in the global markets is close to a crossover in terms of the design and dimensions but Nissan has made it look more robust and SUV like for India. The India-spec Nissan kicks though has a relatable silhouette and the B0 Platform has added more mass to it. It's 89 mm longer at 4384 mm than the global model along with being slightly wider and taller at 1813 mm and 1656 mm, respectively. Wheelbase too is more and stands at 2673mm and this means there will be more space at the rear.
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The additional width has made the front of the India-spec Nissan Kicks look more butch. It gets a redesigned front bumper with skid plates finished in faux silver and LED headlamps with boomerang shaped daytime running lights (DRLs) at the inner corner. The grille is still the 'V-Motion' Nissan family grille but has a different honeycomb mesh design and is flanked at wider ends. The Indian version also sees projector headlamps and that adds to the appeal of the car.
Not much has changed in terms of design on the side save for the larger wheelbase at 2673 mm and 17-inch twin-five-spoke alloy wheels. It retains all the design cues such as pop-out wheel arches, blacked out pillars, dual-tone floating roof and the roof rails are finished in orange adding a dash of funk.
The rear of the Indian-Spec Nissan Kicks has been mildly updated. It gets a re-profiled bumper and a bold chrome embellishment above the licence plate and given its size, it looks a little more angular around the corner. Moreover, the Indian-spec model also gets a shark-fin roof antenna. In a bid to build onto the anticipation some more as this compact SUV is yet to launch (in January 2019), Nissan has only given us a view of the exteriors of the Nissan Kicks, while the interiors are still under wraps.
Also Read: Nissan Kicks India Launch Scheduled For January 2019, Hyundai Creta Rival
Though, it's obvious that the India-spec Nissan Kicks will be more spacious given the larger wheelbase and we have been told that the cabin will be more up-market compared to the global model. It's likely to feature an 8.0-inch touchscreen unit which will support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and will get an auto-climate control system. Moreover, the interior will be finished with premium materials.
As for the powertrains, expect the same combinations seen of the Renault Captur to make it under the hood of the India-spec Nissan kicks. A 110 bhp, 1.5-litre diesel mated to six-speed manual gearbox and a 106 bhp, 1.5-litre petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox are expected to be the workhorses for the Nissan Kicks in India. However, we hope Nissan to consider the CVT transmission at a later date.
