In February, citing Nissan India President Thomas Kuehl, a report claimed that the Nissan Kicks is coming soon to India. Now, a new report from Autocar India says that the launch has been postponed to early 2019.
The Kicks is already a two-year-old model. Introduced in Latin America in May 2016, it is now available in China and North America too. For India, Nissan is working on localising the SUV, and this is what has delayed the launch. The Nissan Kicks sold globally is underpinned by Nissan’s V platform that was introduced in 2009. It underpins the dated previous generation Nissan Micra and the Nissan Sunny, as well.
The Indian-spec Nissan Kicks will ride on Dacia’s fourteen-year-old B0/Logan platform. The Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano, and Renault Captur SUVs sold here are based on the same platform. The low-cost version of the Kicks to be sold here will likely share its engines and transmissions with these models. It won’t differ in terms of design from the global version, though.
Nissan could offer the Kicks with the 1.5-litre H5K petrol engine (106 PS/142 Nm) coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission or a CVT as well as the 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine (110 PS/240 Nm) paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. The small SUV measures 4,295 mm in length, 1,760 mm in width and 1,590 mm in height. It has a 2,610 mm wheelbase and a 200 mm ground clearance.
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The Nissan Kicks is not a sub-4 metre SUV, and this means that it will compete directly with the Hyundai Creta in our market. The Nissan Kicks will slot just above the Nissan Terrano, which starts at INR 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It will be interesting to see how Nissan prices the SUV. Sister brand Renault keeps a safe gap of INR 2.05 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) between the Renault Duster and Renault Captur's prices*.
*INR 7.95 lakh and INR 10 lakh respectively, both ex-showroom Delhi
[Source: Overdrive]
