Nissan Kicks 1.6 Petrol

The Nissan Kicks is a likeable urban runabout, and the India-spec model should build further on those attributes

- Rohit Paradkar

Nissan has a rich heritage of building SUVs and you will be surprised to know that there was an Indian chapter to that too, which dates back to the 60s. The vehicle that wrote that chapter was called the Jonga - a go-anywhere SUV that was of service in the Indian army. It was the second generation of the Nissan Patrol and its modern-day descendent is a flagship for the brand’s SUV operations. Unfortunately, it is neither a war vehicle anymore nor does it have any connection to India. But the Patrol certainly has quite a few off-road tricks up its sleeve despite its luxurious heft. I can say that because I went dune bashing in it in a desert on the outskirts of Dubai.

That is a small story in itself and the experience was courtesy of Nissan India. The Middle East is where Nissan SUV range has a stronghold and therefore it was the perfect place to sample and understand what Nissan’s modern-day SUVs are capable of. We had a choice of four SUVs to drive through the day - the Patrol mothership; the Pathfinder, which lends its design direction to the Terrano; the X-trail, that unfortunately isn’t coming to India anymore given the high taxation on hybrids; and the Kicks, which is currently one of Nissan’s smallest offerings in the SUV space alongside the Juke. Given the time constraints post the dune bashing, I diverted all my attention to the Kicks and let the other SUVs be. You may have already read about Nissan’s plans of introducing the Kicks to India (Page 20), but the car that you see here is not it. I still went after it, since it is a good starting point to get an insight into what is coming our way.