MICRA MANAGEMENT(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 51

Nissan reinvents its little Micra supermini as an EV - with more than a little help from Renault. Like its contemporaries at the upper end of the EV small segment, this car sells on style, so it's a very different kind of Micra. And a very different kind of small Nissan.

Background word count: 179

In over four decades of Nissan Micra history, it's hard to spot a consistent design theme. Some were wacky (the bubble-shaped K12 MK3 of 2002), some were conservative (the Indian-built K13 MK4 of 2010) and some just edgy (the most recent K14 model of 2016). What we haven't seen though, since the Micra model line first launched here back in 1987, is much charisma. But with this sixth generation electric version, we've certainly got it now. Nissan's current financial woes are well publicised and probably explain why the brand could do little more for this MK6 design than clone its Renault Nissan Alliance partner model, the Renault 5 E-Tech Electric. The two cars are identical under the skin, Renault did all this Nissan's dynamic development and both models roll down the same French production line. None of which will matter if you like the way that Nissan has redesigned the cabin and (almost completely) redesigned the exterior. Basing your small EV on the Car of the Year-winning must-have model of the moment can't be a bad thing. Can it?