Nissan's Next Micra Looks Far Less Rubbish Than You'd Think
Brace yourself: the new Nissan Micra is coming, and it’s maybe not quite what you were expecting.
The erstwhile learner chariot, mum’s taxi and Grandma Prudence’s runabout has gone all spaceshippy, with lines so bold they make Zlatan look modest and a new option to have the interior part leather-trimmed in the colour of Katie Price’s face.
The Micra has never been famed for its striking styling, mainly because it never had any, and on a personal note it’s only the car to give me backache across two completely different model generations. But all that could be about to change with the new model’s youthful looks – and equally young target buyers.
The Micra has been falling out of favour with the, err, more senior car buyer in recent years thanks to the cleverly-designed and higher-riding Note, meaning the Micra has got to find a new audience.
This fifth generation is targeted straight at Europe. It’s lower and wider than the frump-fest it replaces, with more interior space and downsized turbocharged engines at its heart. Nothing bigger than a 1.5-litre diesel is planned, with two petrols sliding in below the 1000cc threshold.
A plucky 89bhp is the most you’ll get, but this sort of aggressive styling is ripe for a Nismo version (fingers crossed). And what’s this we see in the press release? “Active Trace Control for reduced understeer and sharper handling”? Consider one of our eyebrows raised, Nissan.
There will be 10 exterior colours including the Energy Orange and I’ve Just Got to Have a Sit Down Silver you see here. We may have made one of those up. You can pay extra for a Bose six-speaker stereo, and thanks to the company’s space bar being broken the system comes with two UltraNearfield speakers as part of something called Bose PersonalSpace. Basically it’s special speakers in the driver’s headrest.
Lane-departure warnings have finally made their way to the Micra, alongside automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection. It’s set to be built at a Renault plant in France.
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I’m glad someone’s finally wrote an article about the new Micra. I work for Nissan, and I think it’s going to be very popular, depending on price. It’s the first Micra designed solely for Europe, so don’t think it’s going to be “just another Micra”
There’s going to be over 100 different interior and exterior colour combinations, so it should appeal to younger drivers. The only let down for me is the engine choices, but all manufactures are using smaller engines now, so it’s no surprise.
The back of it looks like a renault zoe thing or a ford focus hit with a shovel. Still doesnt beat a k11 or a k10
The Micra has never been famed for its striking styling
I have to take issue with this line because, whilst older generations look boring or weird now, in their time they were seen as very striking and different designs.
The K11 in the 90s was actually quite different from the rest of the crowd - everything else on the market (Nova/Corsa A, Fiesta, Pugs, Citorens etc) were all boxy (EG: Saxo) or really poorly shaped and proportioned (EG: Fiesta), and then along comes the Micra with its rounded, bubble styling and jazzy interior trim - its styling accidentally became a major selling point.
The K12 “bug eye” in 2001 was also radically styled for the time and, whilst strange, was also sold on its looks.
This new Micra is no exception. Its very striking in the context of now. People say it looks like an i30 or a Focus but I can’t see that at all. All the body and detail lines are different, and the interior is a massive leap up from the bland offerings in the Ford and Hyundai.
Looks very similar to the Leaf
Why do most new cars have very tall doors and very small windows?
How is a little kid meant to see the world??