Larger and more muscular all-new 2025 Nissan Kicks revealed in North America

The Nissan Kicks may be fairly new in our market, only having been launched in 2022. In other markets though, it has been around since as far back as 2016, making it about eight years old this year. As such, it’s definitely due for a complete redesign.

After a couple of unexpected delays, Nissan has finally unveiled the all-new second generation Kicks, which gets significant changes with its larger dimensions and heavily modernized design compared to the outgoing generation. 

Appearance-wise, Nissan has definitely upped the game with the Kicks. It is a complete departure from the outgoing current generation. For starters, the Japanese automaker’s signature V-Motion grille says goodbye and in its place is a horizontal-slatted grille which are integrated with the vehicle’s LED daytime running lights. Its shape is also more upright and somewhat boxier giving it more road presence. Overall, it appears bolder and more muscular.

As mentioned, it is now larger with a length of 4,366 mm (+66 mm), width of 1,801 mm (+41 mm), and height of 1,631 mm (+16 mm). It also now rides on a longer 2,657 mm wheelbase and has a ground clearance of 213 mm. These not only contribute to its larger presence, but also to interior space.

And speaking of interiors, inside is where the outgoing Nissan Kicks did not exactly age well, in addition to feeling a bit small compared to its rivals. That is now rectified with a sleeker and more elegant dashboard design bringing the crossover into the modern era. You’ll find inside options for a dual 12.3-inch screen setup for the instrument cluster and infotainment system, plenty of soft-touch surfaces for a more premium feel, and combination leather and fabric seat materials.

Powering the all-new Nissan Kicks for the US-market is a 2.0-liter Inline 4-cylinder MR20DD gasoline engine that produces 141 horsepower and 190 Nm of torque, mated to an Xtronic continuously variable transmission (CVT). Power is sent either to the front wheels or for the first time in a Kicks, all four, through Nissan’s Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system.

Nissan’s e-POWER hybrid system is not available for the North American Kicks but will highly likely be what we’ll get here as it is with the current outgoing generation.

As with the current model, at least for other markets, it comes with various advanced driver-assist safety technology, dubbed as Nissan Safety Shield 360, composed of Intelligent Emergency Braking, Rear Automatic Braking, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Departure Prevention, Lane Keep Assist, and Blind Spot Intervention, among others.

It can also be had with Nissan’s ProPILOT Assist which combines steering assistance as well as Intelligent (adaptive) Cruise Control functions to help drivers when on the road.

The all-new 2025 Nissan Kicks will make its first public appearance at the 2024 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), with availability in the United States and Canada to follow in a few months time. We don’t know how long we’ll have to wait for this to arrive in our market. We’ll probably have to wait for it to be released first in the Thai market where Nissan Philippines currently sources local units before we see it locally.