Nissan will produce new crossover based on the Kicks Concept in Brazil

Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Company, today announced that the brand will produce a new crossover, which will be sold globally, starting with Latin American markets in 2016.

The new model was inspired by the Kicks Concept presented at the 2014 edition of the Motor Show in Sao Paulo and will keep the name "Kicks" for the production version.

With investments of R $ 750 million, the Nissan Kicks will be produced at the Industrial Complex of Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The plant opened in 2014 and currently produces compact models March and Versa. After the start of production, Nissan aims to hire 600 new employees and start a second round in Resende unit (RJ).

"Nissan invented the first crossover in 2003 with the release of Murano. Since then, we have established ourselves as global leaders crossovers with models like Juke, Qashqai and X-Trail, which have had great success. The Kicks will bring the unique expertise of Nissan crossovers into new markets, "said Carlos Ghosn.

"The compact crossovers are very attractive to consumers in Latin America. Kicks with Nissan, we go beyond the obvious to conquer them, with a sharp design and performance that our customers crave, "said Jose Valls, chairman of Nissan Latin America.

"When our team of Nissan Brazil collaborated with colleagues in Japan to create the Kicks Concept, which was inspired in our country and culture, the result was extraordinary. And now we look forward to our team of manufacturing the Resende plant, which is preparing to manufacture it with the precision and high quality Japanese, "explained Francois Dossa, president of Nissan Brazil.

The Nissan Kicks Concept debuted at the Sao Paulo International Motor Show 2014 and in June 2015, was shown in Buenos Aires Room in Argentina. The Kicks prototype marked the evolution of Extrem concept that was shown at the event in São Paulo in 2012. Since then, Nissan continued to explore cultures, styles and colors of Brazil and Latin America for the development and design of the vehicle.

Led by Global Design Center Nissan in Japan, the Kicks Concept is designed with the collaboration between Nissan Design America (NDA), Studio in San Diego, California, and the Nissan Design America - Rio (NDA-R), the the company's design studio-TV in Brazil. The teams are currently working to finalize the design of the production model.
As well as its introduction in Latin American markets, Nissan continues to study the release of Kicks in other regions, underscoring the brand's commitment to global leadership in the crossover segment.