What do you mean there’s only one Nissan you can buy right now? It is a worrying question for all those Nissan customers in India. Well, the simple fact is that the Japanese carmaker has taken away the complete range of Micra (including the Micra Active), Sunny and the Terrano from its website. None of them has made it to the BS6 (Bharat Stage 6) era. Honestly, none of those models performed to leave any significant mark on the Indian automobile industry. So, their axing was definitely on the cards.

As things stand, Nissan India has just one product’s price listed on its website – the GT-R. At Rs 2.12 crore, it doesn’t quite cater to the masses! Okay, you might say, what about the Kicks? Well, it’s listed. However, Nissan hasn’t even begun accepting bookings for the SUV’s BS6 range, let alone revealing the prices. Expect that to happen soon.

The major talking point of the BS6-compliant Kicks is the brand-new engine. The 1.3-litre, turbo-petrol mill churns out 154bhp/254Nm, while an 8-step CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) will feed the power to the front wheels. That’s 16bhp/12Nm more than the 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine makes in the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos. In all likelihood, Nissan will offer the new engine-transmission combination with the in the range-topping variants only. The entry- to mid-level derivatives will continue with the 1.5-litre petrol (105bhp/142Nm), mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

To ensure the Kicks gives a tough fight to the established competition, Nissan has upped the standard equipment levels as well. Stuff like automatic climate control with rear AC vent, cooled glovebox, electrically-adjustable ORVMs, dual airbags, ABS with EBD and BA, shark fin antenna and Nissan Connect with smartwatch support will be available on all variants.

The Kicks will be available in a total of seven variants, including two with CVT. As far as colour options go, there will be six monotones (Blade Silver, Night Shade, Bronze Grey, Fire Red, Pearl White, Deep Blue Pearl) and three dual-tones (Bronze Grey with Amber Orange, Fire Red with Onyx Black and Pearl White with Onyx Black). Nissan will offer a standard warranty of 2 years/50,000km, with the option of extending it up to 5 years/100,000km.

Later in the year, Nissan will also venture into the sub-4 metre SUV space. Currently codenamed as the EM2, it will share the underpinnings and the powertrain options with the Renault HBC, which is also an upcoming subcompact SUV. It seems then Nissan has decided to focus all the energy on segments which can potentially help in creating a market share.