With the announcement of the new, more grown-up 2025 Nissan Kicks, you’d think that the first-generation model would be dead in North America, right? It was a good little hatchback, but generations of cars die, and you’d think it’s time for this one to slip quietly into the inky twilight. Except it’s not. Not everywhere in North America, at least. See, the old Nissan Kicks lives on in Canada, and there are two extremely good reasons as to why Nissan should put it back on sale in America too.
This isn’t the first time an older model has stuck around for the sake of economy. In fact, Nissan did the exact same thing with the first-generation Rogue for a few years, as it was sold alongside the second-generation Rogue as the Rogue Select. Infiniti did the same thing selling the G37 as the Q40, so who’s to say the same trick won’t work a third time?
Cars often get decontented as they age into their continuation years, and the Kicks Play is no exception. There’s no more Bose audio system on offer, no more leatherette upholstery, no more two-tone paint. However, you still get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, and really, along with air conditioning, that’s all you need. Should you want more, a mildly upmarket SV trim with 17-inch alloy wheels, rear disc brakes, a heated steering wheel, heated seats, a slightly bigger eight-inch touchscreen, and a seven-inch partly digital instrument cluster, and a few other sundries, but when you’re in this segment, you’re probably still looking at the value menu, yeah?
Obviously, the 1.6-liter 122-horsepower four-cylinder engine and continuously variable transmission under the hood of the Kicks Play don’t make for the most inspiring combination on the market, but 31 mpg city is a little bit better than the 28 mpg the new Kicks gets, and over five years of ownership, those little savings at the pump could add up to a seriously tangible difference.
So, why would you buy a first-generation Kicks now that the second-generation car is on sale? Well, including freight, it stickers for $24,628 Canadian, which, at current exchange rates, worked out to $17,714.67 USD. That’s dirt freaking cheap, and cheap cars matter. Come January, there will only be one car left in America with a price tag of less than $20,000 — the Nissan Versa. Another option would be much appreciated, and especially one with a practical hatch. Part of the lack of other options is the fact that cheap cars are often expensive to put on sale, but that’s where the Mk1 Kicks has an ace in the hole.
See, the first-generation Kicks is already crash-tested. Its powertrain has already passed U.S. emissions homologation. It even has U.S.-spec lighting. It would be pretty damn cheap to put this thing back on sale in America, development costs are virtually nil, the parts supply is already built out, it’s essentially a way to print money.
We’re lucky that we live in an age where truly bad cars are few and far between, and that’s a good thing for automakers, as it means enterprising ones can continue selling their old wares to make a few extra bones. It’s high time for the value model to make a comeback, don’t you think?
(Photo credits: Nissan)
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It might be cheap, but Nissan probably needs to move away from bargain-basement shoppers. Put another way, how much revenue would Nissan lose because this cheaper Kicks would prevent people from being upsold to the newer one, if not the Rogue?
I’ve rented several of these. They are extremely competent for what they are, especially if it sell at around $18K.
I never drove the new Versa (only the dreadful previous one), but adding the Kick back would make a very reasonable entry level lineup for Nissan, and a good option for buyers on a purchase.
“…buyers on a budget”… sorry.
CVT? Wow, sign me up.
This makes too much sense for Nissan to do it.
Play. Classic. Select. Heritage. They always come up with a polite way of calling the old version what it really is.
Most people won’t own the car long enough for out of warranty maintenance to offset the $5k.
Oops meant to reply to the other person saying to buy a civic instead
Sure it’s cheap but you’d have to be seen in a Nissan Kicks and live with a Jatco CVT. If I had an $18,000 budget I’d rather keep my dignity and find the best Civic I could.
I had one of these as a rental. It was fine. I actually was impressed with the equipment level for something so cheap (full suite of safety aids, CarPlay, yada yada). It went down the highway comfortably.
(A certain portion of) Canadians loooove cheap cars. Nissan USA never sold the Micra, but they were sold by Nissan Canada.
We had our own spec racing league for them! You could buy a ready-to-race Micra for 19K Canadian (13.6k USD). That’s a brand new car with a roll cage, ready to rock.
Cheap small cars are very popular in Quebec.
Buying a brand new car is definitely nice, and this is definitely one of those.
But honestly, spend the 30k on a used Civic or Corolla and you’ll have a car that’s better in every single metric, and will also be more reliable, have higher resale value, and last longer.
How can it be that weak but still get such lousy fuel economy?
My QR25DE was 185 HP-ish and managed to get 26 in mixed use when I didn’t drive like an ass (which didn’t happen often but it was sippy when I asked).
That’s 31 MPG city. It got 33 MPG in mixed use and 36 highway.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=45036
Nissan also sold the B12 and B13 Sentra concurrently for a year or two in the early 90’s (to say nothing of the B13’s longevity as the Mexican-market Tsuru), so very much not a new tactic for them.
G37 was sold as the Q60
If you have a cheaper option many people will choose it. And I’m not sure if a CVT from Nissan is any better than Mitsubishi. However my neighbors Mitsubishi CVT blew out at 100 miles after the warranty. Not only did he get no relief from Mitsubishi, but he couldn’t get a regular mechanic to even look at it, then when he approached a Mitsubishi dealership where he bought it they refused to even look at it. It is apparently a 5 Star Mitsubishi Dealership in Altoona Pennsylvania but I don’t want to name names.
Given that Mitsubishi has a 10-year/100,000- mile powertrain warranty, that CVT clearly WAS better than any from Nissan.
(In truth, Mitsubishi has been sourcing CVT’s from Jatco since 2016, so it may be the same part as in a Nissan, but with a much better warranty.)
I’ve read on various sites that if you’re religious about changing the trans fluid every 40,000 miles or so (using the appropriate magic traction juice for CVTs) these things sometimes live reasonably well. Not expecting your typical low end buyer to do this, unfortunately.
If it were available with a manual, it would certainly gain a few more buyers.
The 6-speed could be the Kicks, and the CVT version the Kicks Rocks.
It’s not too late to change “Not Dead Yet” to “Still Kicking.”