NISSAN MICRA

Can the magic of the Renault 5 also help spark a renaissance at Nissan?

- MARK TISSHAW

TESTED 10.6.25, BEDFORDSHIRE DELIVERIES EARLY 2026

By the time a car enters its sixth generation, you can normally be fairly certain what its replacement is going to be like. After all, longevity in this industry is often a byword for success.

Yet like the five Nissan Micras before it, this new sixth-gen model is very different again. It has gone electric and is a twin to the Renault 5, with little to no mechanical changes from what is admittedly a very good starting point, given it's Car of the Year and all the rage among the buying public.

It has been given an extensive reskin by Nissan's London design team, however, and if the Mk6 draws on any of its predecessors for inspiration, then it's the Mk3 - the funky bubble version that probably marked the high point for the Micra before it really lost its way in the 2010s. Those round front lights are the most obvious visual link.

Given the 5 isn't just the rebirth of Renault's supermini icon but also a poster child for the renaissance of the company itself, Nissan's designers have on the face of it been backed into a corner in trying to claim the Micra as its own. Yet they have done a good job.