Nissan North America has officially unveiled the second generation of its Kicks subcompact. Along with a major redesign inside and out, the car landed with a more powerful engine and all-wheel drive, a first for the U.S. market. The full reveal remains scheduled for the New York International Auto Show starting in a week.
Compared to the first generation that came out in 2016 and was updated in 2020, the new Kicks has an entirely different-looking fromt fascia. The V-Motion radiator grille is history now, and the new grille has a different shape. Its horizontal slats also rhyme stylistically with the stacked headlights. The taillights also have a similar design. Aside from that, Nissan says the new Kicks is larger both outside and inside, but doesn’t specify any numbers.
In its most basic version, the CUV comes with a preinstalled Nissan Safety Shield 360 package including emergency braking and lane assist. For the first time on record, you can option the car with ProPILOT Assist, an advanced cruise control system with smart lanekeeping.
The old 1.6-liter engine with 122 PS (120 hp / 90 kW) is gone, too. The new mill has 2.0 liters of displacement and delivers 143 PS (141 hp / 105 kW) along with 190 Nm (140 lb-ft) of torque. It’s still bundled with a CVT, but Nissan promises us that it’s going to be “more responsive”.
Last but not least, the Kicks for North America can now be obtained with an all-wheel drive system and a new drive preset called Snow. An AWD version has been on sale in Japan since 2022, but only as a hybrid with its rear axle driven by a dedicated electric motor.
