Nissan Kicks Unveiled, Hyundai Creta Rival to Launch In Jan 2019

The India-spec Nissan Kicks shares its platform with the Nissan Terrano, Renault Duster and Renault Captur.

The Nissan Kicks shares its platform with the Renault Captur, Nissan Terrano and Renault Duster. 

(Photo: Nissan India)

Looks like Nissan gets a kick out of teasing folks with its Nissan Kicks SUV. The upcoming Hyundai Creta and Renault Captur rival was unveiled in Mumbai today - but one could only get a look at the exteriors of the vehicle. The insides are still a mystery.

Thomas Kuehl, President, Nissan India Operations at the unveil of the Nissan Kicks in Mumbai.Photo: Nissan India

The Nissan Kicks, which will be launched in India in January 2019, is quite different from the global SUV with the same name. In fact, The Quint’s Cyrus John was invited a few weeks ago to drive that edition in Dubai (see video below).

The obvious rival of the Nissan Kicks is going to be the Hyundai Creta - a B-segment SUV that sells over 10,000 units a month. Has the Kicks got what it takes to kick the market leader off the top spot? We don’t know the answer to that one yet.

But we do have some specs for you.

The rear of the Nissan Kicks looks quite trendy and young. Photo: Nissan India

The Nissan Kicks is 4,384 mm long, 1,813 mm wide and 1,656 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,673 mm. Now why does that seem familiar? Well, because the Renault Captur sports the same wheelbase and width - and that’s because they share the same platform. The global Kicks is based on a different platform.

The Nissan Kicks sports a wide front, with muscular fenders.

A dual tone colour scheme and roof rails makes it look sporty.

It will run on 17-inch machined alloy rims. 

It looks quite spacious in profile, although wheelbase is the same as the Renault Duster.

Projector headlamps on the Nissan Kicks. 

In India, the Nissan Kicks, Nissan Terrano, Renault Captur and Renault Duster, all share the same underpinnings. Not surprisingly, the engine choices too are likely to be carried over - a 1.6 litre petrol engine putting out 105PS of power and a 1.5 litre diesel putting out 110PS of power.

So how does one choose between these four SUV cousins? It’s like choosing a shirt to wear - you wear the same size 42 for instance, but you choose your style - checks, stripes, solids, full sleeves, half-sleeves, T-shirts, round necks etc. It’s a similar case here with the body styling.

What’s interesting is the Nissan Kicks’ styling, which is distinct. The Kicks looks like a slightly beefier version of its global sibling (see the video), and has a few design tweaks. We will get you more details on the SUV once it actually goes into production in India.