Almost every car manufacturer out there wants a piece of the compact SUV pie in India. Joining the likes of Tata, Maruti, Mahindra and Hyundai, Nissan has decided to enter the slug fest. Rumored to debut at the 2016 Auto Expo, Nissan’s compact SUV will be based on the Kicks concept which was displayed last year at the Sao Paulo Motor Show. Drawing its inspiration from the streets of Brazil, the Kicks Concept was designed to address the disconnect between drab looking, black, silver and white vehicles, and the exuberant nature of the Soccer loving nation and its people.
The Kicks based compact SUV could be powered by the 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine that also does duty in the Terrano. It will be based on a concept that Hiren Patel, the Lead Designer behind the project describes as something that tries to achieve the duality of fitting pragmatic needs, while at the same time provides a sense of style and missing substance in the market. With a plan to capture the idea of Brazil and then apply it to their global design, Nissan could shorten length of their upcoming Kicks concept based SUV to below 4-meters, in order to qualify for tax benefits and price the product competitively.
Source: Autocar