2018 Nissan Kicks sport-ute coming to North America

What is it? Nissan’s latest SUV and the smallest sport-cute in its lineup

Why does it matter? Of all the automakers looking to capitalize on North America’s transition from sedans to SUVs, Nissan’s lineup makeover has been the quickest. With the addition of Qashqai last year and now the Kicks, Nissan offers no less than six SUVs in its lineup — besides the aforementioned two, there is the Juke, Rogue, Pathfinder and Armada — ranging from the itty-bitty to the hulking behemoth.

And even though it is tiny — think shrunk Murano here with a taste of the Range Rover Evoque — the 1.6-litre inline-four sports variable valve timing, 125 horsepower and 115 lb.-ft. of torque. Nissan struggled for years in designing a compact sedans, namely the Sentra, that resonated with Canadians; with the popularization of sport-utes, they’ve solved that problem with the new Kicks.

When will Canada get it? Spring 2018.

Should you buy it? You should definitely look at it. With a base price expected to be around $18,000 and including such niceties as traction control, vehicle stability control and Hill Start Assist. Even Automatic Emergency Braking with Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is included in that price. Move up in price and you can add Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, Nissan’s Intelligent Around View Monitor (I-AVM)³ with a 360-degree view of the Kicks and a Bose “Personal Plus” audio system with what Nissan says is “360 degrees of immersive sound.”

The only caveat to all this goodness is that the Kicks will only be available with front-wheel-drive.