Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan recently announced that the brand will produce a new crossover that will be sold globally, starting with Latin American markets from 2016.
The new model was inspired by the Kicks Concept car presented at the 2014 Sao Paulo Motor Show, and it will retain the Kicks name for the production version.
The Nissan Kicks will be produced at Nissan’s Resende Industrial Complex in Rio de Janeiro State, the same facility that currently produces compact vehicles March and Versa. After the start of production, Nissan expects to hire 600 new employees and start a second shift in Resende facility.
“Nissan invented the first crossover in 2003, with the Murano,” said Ghosn. “Since then, we’ve established our global crossover leadership with vehicles like Juke, Qashqai and X-Trail – which have been great successes. The Kicks will bring Nissan´s unique Crossover expertise to more regions.”
Led by Nissan’s Global Design Center in Japan, the Kicks Concept was conceived through a collaboration between Nissan Design America (NDA) in San Diego and Nissan Design America – Rio (NDA-R), the company’s local satellite design studio. The teams currently are engaged in the design and development of the production model.
The Nissan Kicks Concept made its world debut at the 2014 São Paulo Motor Show, followed by a showing at the 2015 Buenos Aires Motor Show. The Kicks prototype marked the evolution of the Extrem concept vehicle originally presented in Sao Paulo in 2012. Since then, Nissan has continued to explore Brazilian and Latin American cultures, styles and colours within the vehicle design and development process.
“When our team from Nissan Brazil team collaborated with our colleagues in Japan to create the Kicks concept vehicle, which was inspired by our country and culture, the result was extraordinary,” said Francois Dossa, president of Nissan Brazil. “And now, we’re excited that our manufacturing team in Resende is preparing to build it with top-notch Japanese precision.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOYlrgw6sxs
