The Nissan Kicks small crossover, which will be the official car of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in August 2016, will be sold in 80 markets. The newcomer will slot in between the Juke and Qashqai when it arrives here in 2018.

Nissan is the vehicle sponsor for the Rio Olympic Games next month and the newest member of its product lineup – the Kicks – is the showpiece model. The Kicks has just been launched in Brazil, where it will be built in conjunction with Mexico and then eventually go on sale in 80 countries.

The Kicks is the next evolution in the Nissan Crossover/SUV range. In terms of its dimensions, it sits above the Juke, but below Qashqai. Its based on the Micra platform so it’s interesting to see that it’s actually bigger than the Juke. It’s also a slightly more conventionally packaged model as the Kicks will take on the likes of the Honda HR-V, Renault Duster and Captur,Mazda CX-3 and Suzuki Vitara.

Official specs and pricing have not yet been confirmed for our local market but we can expect to see it launched in 2018. It’s very much an urban crossover vehicle with its street-like styling and blacked out pillars. It still offers 200 mm of ground clearance and plenty of plastic guarding around the sides to make it look rugged.

As for the engine lineup, we would expect Nissan to use some of its current engines to keep the cost down. In Brazil, it will run a 1.6-litre petrol/ethanol combination engine. In SA we will probably see the 1.2-litre turbopetrol engine as well as the 1.5-litre turbodiesel used in both the Juke and Qashqai.

The interior looks stylish and quirky. Abroad the Kicks features start-stop button, climate control, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls and cruise control and an Around View Monitor and Moving Object Detection camera. The specification of local market derivatives will be slightly different.

View an official promotional video of the Nissan kicks below:

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