Nissan brings back what was the Micra supermini nameplate, hoping consumers will not see it as a direct rival of its sibling European Car of the Year 2025, the Renault 5.
This sixth generation of the model that was wildly successful in European markets since its launch in 1982 is built by the French automaker’s battery-electric-vehicle business unit in Douai, France, using Ampere’s platform.
And while every exterior metal panel of the new Micra is different from the Renault 5, almost all the inner panels are shared, making the relationship between the two unmistakable.
Both share the same roofline, vehicle dimensions and suspension/steering construction. About the only unique key drive technology that Micra can boast is Nissan’s one-pedal drive technology.
The automaker’s e-Pedal system combines acceleration, regenerative braking and braking to a complete halt where required.
With deliveries planned for the beginning of 2026, there will be two powertrain output options at launch starting with a 40-kWh battery pack claiming a range of up to 192 miles (309 km) with an electric motor claiming 120 hp and 166 lb.-ft. (225 Nm) of torque.
The range-topper version boasts a 52-kWh battery with a range of 253 miles (407 Nm) and an electric motor with 147 hp and torque of 181 lb.-ft. (245 Nm). Curb weights are 3,080 lbs. (1,400 kg) and 3,353 lbs. (1,524 kg), respectively, much more than double that of the first-generation car which tipped the scales at just 1,400 lbs. (635 kg).
During pre-launch roundtables with Nissan’s European executives, WardsAuto is told they feel their design team in London has produced sufficient distance from its sporty hatchback retro-styled Renault 5.
Great emphasis was placed on the car’s quasi-SUV styling in a bid to appeal to a wide range of consumers in both urban and rural environments.
During one roundtable, WardsAuto points out that, while its award winning-sibling has been a success both with industry judges and with the car-buying public, the only Micra model to achieve that sort of glory was the ‘cutesy’-styled second-generation model launched in 1993.
Nissan’s global design chief, Matthew Weaver, responds that the design brief was to “look forward, not back.”
Perhaps a clearer interpretation would be to suggest that a ‘first-car’ styled model, competing with cheaper products from Dacia and Chinese automakers, would have to sell for a lot less than the Micra’s expected starting price of $32,850 (€29,000).
There’s also no indication if the car will be able to react to the current consumer reluctance for switching to BEVs by following Fiat’s lead in converting its 500e to a hybrid powertrain.
In a roundtable with Clíodhna Lyons, Nissan’s vice president for product and service strategy, WardsAuto is told Nissan has not asked Renault if its AmpR Small platform can be converted to a hybrid powertrain as it remains committed to becoming an exclusively BEV manufacturer by 2030.
“For sure the pace of electrification has slowed but overall electrification continues to grow,” Lyons tells us. “Our strategy is to have a dual powertrain strategy, such as our e-Power technology. We believe the Micra solution as a BEV is the right solution. We are not in discussions with Renault about the ability of that platform to be used with different powertrains at the moment.”
So, WardsAuto turned to Renault’s head of product communication, Julien Cotteverte, to ask whether the AmpR Small platform has the potential to be converted to run a hybrid powertrain.
He confirms that the platform cannot be converted to run a hybrid powertrain, even after claims by Horse Powertrain that most BEVs can be converted using its latest integrated powertrain system.
In an email response, Cotteverte tells us: “No, AmpR Small platform does not support this technology,” adding, “It is not designed to accommodate combustion engines, hybrids, exhaust systems and so on.”
