Hyundai Creta-challenging Nissan Kicks compact SUV launch timeline revealed for India

Nissan India has just confirmed that the Kicks compact SUV is just a few months away from launch here. A news report in Business Standard suggests that the Kicks could be on Indian roads by the end of this year. When launched, the Kicks will be the first all-new, affordable Nissan product for the Indian market in over 5 years, thus breaking a long drought for the Japanese brand. Over the past 3-4 years, Nissan has been focusing on building the Datsun brand in India, giving the Nissan range the short end of the stick. With the launch of the Kicks compact SUV, the Japanese automaker will attempt to infuse freshness into the Nissan brand. The Kicks will take on the Hyundai Creta.

Jerome Saigot, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India, said,

We have plans on the Nissan front. It is true that as of today the product line-up is a bit old. In a few months, you will see a new Nissan car on the roads.

The Nissan Kicks is based on the B-Zero platform that it shares with the Renault Duster and Captur SUVs. It’s already on sale in South American markets, where it takes on the Hyundai Creta. It’s a 5 seat compact SUV that shares its mechanicals with the Duster and the Captur. Styling is completely different though, and there’s absolutely no hint of the Kicks being related to the Captur or Duster in terms of the way it looks. The Kicks shares its 1.5 litre petrol and turbocharged diesel engines with the Duster/Captur. The same is the case with the manual and CVT automatic gearboxes as well. For India, the Kicks is likely to be a front wheel driven SUV although Nissan does have the all-wheel drive option ready to deploy if needed.

The petrol engine of the Kicks will be the 1.5 litre-4 cylinder naturally aspirated unit with 104 Bhp-140 Nm. 5 speed manual and CVT automatic gearboxes are likely. The diesel engine is the 1.5 litre-4 cylinder turbocharged K9K unit with 108 Bhp-248 Nm outputs. A 6 speed manual gearbox is likely to be the standard transmission on the diesel. As for features, expect twin airbags and ABS+EBD to be standard fare. A touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is expected, while other features such as keyless entry, a start-stop button, automatic climate control and steering mounted audio controls are likely to be on offer. As for pricing, expect the Kicks to be priced similar to the Hyundai Creta, with prices starting from around Rs. 9.5 lakhs.