2018 Nissan Kicks SUV Arrives to Replace the Juke

Upon arrival in 2011, the Nissan Juke quickly made a name for itself with its distinctive looks and surprising performance from a spunky turbocharged four-cylinder engine. But now the Juke is dead, and in its place at the small end of Nissan’s SUV lineup is the 2018 Nissan Kicks. Given how different the two vehicles appear to be, the name change seems warranted: The Kicks is a decidedly more conventional subcompact crossover, prioritizing interior space and feature availability over funky styling and driving verve.

The Kicks, which will go on sale in the United States in June 2018, appears to be little changed from the crossover of the same name that is already on sale in South America. It’s considerably larger than the Juke, with a 3.5-inch-longer wheelbase, a 6.7-inch increase in length, and a 0.6-inch greater height. Sizewise, it slides in just below Nissan’s next smallest crossover, the Rogue Sport, and both fall into the subcompact segment. In combination with its more upright silhouette, the Kicks’s larger footprint means that it provides 25 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats, more than twice as much as the Juke. Rear-seat legroom and headroom also increase significantly.

Despite the jump in size, Nissan hasn’t seen fit to augment anything under the hood. In fact, it has done exactly the opposite by installing a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter four-cylinder in the Kicks as the sole powerplant. It produces a paltry 125 horsepower and 115 lb-ft of torque, down 63 ponies and 62 lb-ft compared to the Juke’s turbocharged 1.6-liter unit. Further sapping the fun, the Kicks comes only with a CVT and front-wheel drive. All-wheel drive isn’t on the menu anymore, and neither is the six-speed manual that was previously available on the high-performance Juke NISMO and NISMO RS models.

Nissan is at least aiming to recapture some of the Juke’s visual excitement by offering the Kicks in several two-tone color schemes, including a choice of white, orange, or red with a black roof; gray with an orange roof; and blue with a white roof. And the Kicks’s interior looks to be significantly more modern than the Juke’s, with a simple and attractive dashboard design featuring a 7.0-inch infotainment display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is standard on SV and SR models.

Even the base Kicks S has a backup camera, automated emergency braking, Bluetooth, and three USB ports as standard. The SV adds blind-spot monitoring, 17-inch wheels, automatic climate control, and remote start, while the SR includes a 360-degree camera system and a few exterior upgrades such as LED accent lights, chrome grille accents, fog lights, and body-color bumper inserts.

Nissan isn’t announcing pricing for the Kicks just yet, but it does say that the Kicks will carry a base MSRP of less than $19,000. That should put it at the bargain end of its segment along with the Jeep Renegade and the Kia Soul, and it’s considerably less than the $21,225 Juke.