The Nissan Kicks will be sold in Europe for the first time and will receive the e-POWER hybrid system. The B-segment crossover will be built at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the United Kingdom, following an investment of about €195 million.
The manufacturer has not yet given an exact start date for production or a list of European markets that will receive the model. Its presence in Romania is therefore not confirmed separately.
Photo: Nissan. The European specification may differ in equipment.
What the e-POWER system means
In a Nissan e-POWER, the wheels are driven solely by the electric motor. The petrol engine does not send power mechanically to the axle; it generates electricity for the drivetrain and the battery.
From the driver’s seat, the throttle response is close to that of an electric car, but the vehicle is refuelled with petrol and does not need to be plugged in. It is a different architecture from a parallel hybrid, in which the combustion engine can drive the wheels directly, and from a plug-in hybrid, which has a larger battery that can be charged from the grid.
Nissan has not yet published power, battery capacity, consumption or emissions for the European Kicks e-POWER. Specifications of versions sold in Japan or Latin America should not be transferred automatically to the model that will be built in Sunderland.
Photo: Nissan.
Kicks will complete the range, not replace the new electric Juke
Kicks is about 4.37 metres long in configurations already sold in other markets and sits in the subcompact crossover category. In Europe, the model will occupy the space left for customers who want a small hybrid SUV, while the next-generation Nissan Juke will be fully electric.
The model may compete with the Dacia Duster Hybrid, Renault Captur E-Tech, Toyota Yaris Cross and MG ZS Hybrid+, but actual positioning will depend on price and European equipment. Nissan has not announced a tariff for Kicks.
The second-generation Kicks was presented in 2024 and is already sold in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, the United States and the Middle East. According to Auto Express, the Kicks family has exceeded 1.8 million examples sold in 70 countries.
Photo: Nissan.
The tenth model produced at Sunderland
Nissan confirmed to Reuters that Kicks e-POWER will be built alongside Qashqai, Juke and Leaf. Kicks will become the tenth model manufactured at Sunderland since the plant opened in 1986.
The investment gives the British factory another product at a time when Nissan is cutting costs globally and reorganising its range. The manufacturer had even considered using part of the plant’s capacity for cars from the Chinese group Chery.
For buyers in Romania, the decisive information is still missing: the euro price, versions, homologated consumption and when orders will open. Until those figures are published, Kicks e-POWER is a model confirmed for Europe, not an offer available on the local market.
