The New Nissan Micra Is The Renault 5’s Twin

Good news for fans of small, robust hatchbacks favoured by grandparents and first-time drivers alike: after a few years’ hiatus, the Nissan Micra is back. Ordinarily this news would be met with muted mumbles at best, but for its sixth generation, the Micra is twinned with the excellent new Renault 5 EV, which as far as we’re concerned is cause for celebration.

Set to be built alongside the 5 at Renault’s plant in Douai, France, we’ve only been given this front three-quarter view for now, but the family commonality is plain to see, with the R5’s boxy roofline retained.

Where the Micra differs mostly from its French counterpart is at the front, where the R5’s squared-off looks are dropped in favour of an equally cutesy rounded headlight signature. In fact, all in all, it looks like a (very) toned down version of 2023’s, erm, 20-23 concept, minus the massively flared arches and scissor doors.

We suspect, then, that when we see the new Micra in full, it’ll feature similar slender rounded lights at the rear to the ones it features at the front. We haven’t yet seen the interior either, but that too is likely to share plenty with the 5.

As for powertrain, Nissan has confirmed that, like the 5, it’ll be available with 40 or 52kWh battery packs, the latter providing a forecasted range of ‘over 248 miles’. We imagine these will be paired with the same 118bhp motor for the smaller battery, or 148bhp for the larger one.

Then, of course, the existence of the Alpine A290 raises the question of whether there’s scope for Nissan to get in on the EV hot hatch game with a Micra Nismo. If we were to speculate even more, could the Renault 5 Turbo 3E be reworked into a production version of that wild 20-23 concept? Probably not, but it’s fun to imagine.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for more info on the new Micra, which arrives at a pivotal time for Nissan as it tries to right its current financial woes and reaffirm itself as one of the biggest car companies in the world. If the Micra can earn the same sort of warm reception as its French twin, it’s off to a good start.