Nissan will bring its popular Kicks crossover to Europe with hybrid power – and build it at its Sunderland plant following an investment worth £170 million.
The B-segment car was launched in 2016 with a focus on Brazil, and the second-generation model, launched in 2024, is currently manufactured in that country, Japan and Mexico. While the Kicks has never previously been offered in Europe, it is sold in most of Nissan’s other global markets.
Nissan's Sunderland plant currently produces the Qashqai, the existing combustion Juke and the Leaf. Notably, while the new Leaf and the recently revealed new Juke – which will also be built in Sunderland – are both electric, this adds a further combustion-powered model, which is a boost for the plant given plans for an electric Qashqai have been scrapped for now.
Nissan is also in talks with Chery about a deal for the Chinese giant to build cars in Sunderland, which could potentially mean up to six models are produced at the facility, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and has produced more than 12 million cars to date. It's a welcome development after recent news that Sunderland was shutting a production line.
In a statement, UK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said "the decision to build this new model in Sunderland is a huge vote of confidence in the UK's manufacturing expertise and automotive future".
The Kicks will sit between the current Juke and Qashqai in Nissan's line-up of combustion SUVs. The international version is 4365mm long, making it slightly longer than the Juke. It sits on the same CMF-B platform as the Juke.
It will be part of an expanding Nissan European line-up, alongside the new A-segment Pixo EV.
