Nissan to go premium, unveils luxury SUV Kicks

The domestic unit of the Japanese automaker Nissan Thursday unveiled a luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) ‘Kicks’ in its bid to revive the sagging fortunes in a market where it has been a fringe player even after almost a decade of presence.

Nissan operates through two brands in the country. While its sells the Micra, Micra Active, Sunny, Terrano and GT-R under the Nissan label, its small cars Go and Go+ and redi-GO are marketed under its sister brand Datsun.

But both these labels have so far failed to gross volumes in the highly price-sensitive domestic market.

The new India-specific Kicks, the details of which is yet to be revealed, will be commercially launched in January, said Thomas Kuehl, president, Nissan India Operations.

As part of its Move 2022 global strategy, the Japanese auto major is looking to “fix” its India operations along with Saudi Arabia, where it has made significant investments but hasn’t had much success.

Besides, the company is also aiming to more than double its dealership networks over the next three years from 272 at present, he said.

“We are excited and proud to unveil the Kicks, which is a testimony to our commitment to this market. As a part of our India strategy, we will bring in the best of our global products and technologies to our customers here,” Kuehl said.