CarToq’s Nissan Kicks Review: Hyundai Creta rival driven in Dubai [VIDEO]

Nissan India is months away from launching their first, all-new product in as many as five years. The Kicks is an important launch for the Japanese giant as this will carve the path for their future line-up of modern day options here in India. We drove the Dubai version a few days back and this is what we have feel about this compact SUV:

Mind you, the Kicks you see in the video above is not the one that will come to India. We will get a heavily revised model, one that will be longer and hence will have a higher street cred and increased passenger space. It will also get a revised design with a better-looking rear, updated cabin design and a diesel engine option. Nevertheless, with the buzz around the Kicks so high, we decided to bring you this first drive video.

Nissan’s Indian innings hasn’t been too good in the recent past. With dwindling sales figures, Kicks will be their only hope to regain the lost market share. The good news is that given how much I loved the Middle East version, the one that will come here will only be better and hence will have every reason to boost domestic sales. Nissan has already shared official teaser images and the design lines do look bold and muscular. Also, the tag line of ‘Nissan Intelligent Mobility’ further makes us believe that the Kicks will come with enough driver and passenger aids to make everyday motoring ‘intelligent’.

The Indian version will get both 1.5-litre diesel and 1.6-litre petrol engine options. We drove the latter in Dubai while the former is already offered in India in all their products. Automatic transmission option, either AMT or CVT, will be on offer. We are scheduled to drive the Indian version in December while the launch will take place by mid of January 2019. Expect the made for India Kicks to be priced from just under Rs 10 lakh. Given the increase in size, it will lock horns with the Hyundai Creta, the current segment leader.