Nissan Kicks crossover will arrive in Europe and will be manufactured in the United Kingdom

Nissan will bring its popular Kick crossover to Europe with hybrid propulsion and will build it at its Sunderland plant following a £170m investment.

The B-segment machine 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 before been offered in Europe, it is sold in most of Nissan’s other global markets.

The news is a boost for Nissan’s Sunderland plant, which currently produces the Qashqai, the current combustion-powered Jukes and the Leaf. Notably, while the new Leaf and the recently revealed new Juke, which will also be built in Sunderland, are electric, this adds an additional combustion-powered model, which is a boost given that plans for an electric Qashqai have been scrapped for now.

Nissan is also in talks with Chery over a deal for the Chinese giant to manufacture cars in Sunderland, which could potentially mean up to six cars are produced at the facility, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and has produced more than 12 million cars to date. It’s a boost for the plant after recent news that it would close 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 UK manufacturing expertise and the future of the automobile.”

The Kicks will sit between the current Juke and Qashqai in Nissan’s lineup of combustion SUVs. The international version is 4,365 mm 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 European range from Nissan, alongside the new A-segment Pixo EV.