Nissan Kicks It Up a Notch With ’21 Refresh

You can’t miss the changes Nissan made to the 2021 Kicks.

Just park one next to a 2020 model and you’ll notice a dramatically different grille, new front and rear LED lights and new 17-in. aluminum-alloy wheels.

The refreshed subcompact crossover also is kicking out new color jams, with three new monotone and two-tone options that result in the ’21 Kicks having over 100 million color combinations.

The changes and fresh personalization options for this midcycle refresh are meant to attract young people with extra USB ports (the Kicks has three, including a USB-C outlet on the upper trims) and first-rate phone connectivity (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard).

“The Kicks is the gateway to our CUV and SUV lineup,” says Brent Hagan, Nissan’s senior manager of product planning.

“It is incredibly important to the brand. It’s where we’re going to get those young shoppers, first-time buyers, new to the Nissan brand and then we have the opportunity to turn them into loyal customers and move them into Rogues, Pathfinders and even up to Armadas.”

But these potential customers first have to buy a Kicks to start down that path. To entice them, Nissan has upgraded the interior to match the exterior changes. There’s a new and desired center console as well as new seat and trim materials (pictured below).

The standard 7-in. (18-cm) touchscreen remains, but a new 8-in. (20-cm) display comes with the SV and SR trims. There will be three trims overall, with the S as the base model. One package, the Premium on the SR grade, will be available.

Some of these many changes were made based on direct feedback from customers unhappy with the ’20 Kicks. 

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“We heard a lot of feedback from customers about wanting a console with storage and an armrest,” Hagan says. “We currently have the armrest on the driver’s-side seat, but customers want more, so we redesigned and completely updated the console.”

Customers also asked for more connected and convenience services, so Nissan added a WiFi hot spot, six months’ free access to the NissanConnect live concierge service and available Bose Personal Plus audio.

The ’21 Kicks comes with standard Nissan Safety Shield 360 technology that includes rear automatic braking, blindspot warning, lane departure alert and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. 

“We know these are young customers,” Hagan says. “They expect really good technology at an affordable price point, so we have jam-packed this vehicle full of that.”

The carryover powertrain uses a 1.6L 4-cyl. that still produces 122 hp and 114 lb.-ft. (155 Nm) of torque through an automatic transmission.

The ’21 Kicks (pictured below) goes on sale in February, slightly delayed from its original timeline due to COVID-19-related production problems.

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