Beleaguered Japanese brand Nissan has begun a refresh under the aegis of new CEO, Ivan Espanosa. Headlining the brand’s new product push will be a new electric Micra hatchback based on the Renault 5, a third-generation Nissan Leaf electric car and an electric Juke.
Entering production in 2026, the new Micra has been previewed before, with its circular halo headlamps imbuing the small car with a cute and cartoony character. While hard points and CMF-EV platform are new (debuted with the Ariya), its design language is somewhat softer overall.
Describing the differences between the Renault and Nissan, global design chief Alfonso Albaisa offered the following comments to Autocar:
“The beauty was that we were looking at something much cuter, with round, puppy-dog headlights, but the Renault car is a bit of a bulldog. So what I love about the Micra is that it has some cute things but the body, shoulders and tyres are huge. The bonnet of the Micra is bigger.”
Battery sizes range between 40kWh and 52kWh, with a range of up to 400km. There is no confirmation of the Micra being offered to the Australian market at this stage.
The new Micra will launch during the 2025 financial year, along with the new Leaf and a new Qashqai featuring third-generation e-Power technology using a 1.5-litre engine. Nissan also confirms the fully electric Ariya will launch in Australia during FY25. Following in FY26, Nissan will launch the all-new fully electric Juke.
