Nissan Kicks 2016: Cars Made in Brazil Heading to Latin America

Nissan Motor Co. will reportedly start selling selling the new Nissan Kicks in Latin America this year. CEO Carlos Ghosn said in an official statement on Monday that the plant in Brazil will produce the vehicle.

According to Reuters, Nissan is going to invest 750 million reais ($186 million) in the Resende plant, which is about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Rio de Janeiro. The company's goal is to build the Kicks crossover based on a concept vehicle that was unveiled at the 2014 Sao Paulo Auto Show.

The report also says that Nissan plans to hire 600 new employees. The company also plans to open a second shift at the factory, which already produces the compact cars March and Versa.

"Nissan invented the first crossover in 2003, with the Murano," said Ghosn in an official statement. "Since then, we've established our global crossover leadership with vehicles like JUKE, Qashqai and X-Trail - which have been great successes. The Kicks will bring Nissan´s unique Crossover expertise to more regions."

In a report with Automotive World, The Nissan Kicks Concept was unveiled at the São Paulo Motor Show in 2014 and at the 2015 Buenos Aires Motor Show. The Kicks prototype will already start the evolution of the Extrem concept vehicle which was originally presented in Sao Paulo in 2012.

Nissan has already continued to incorporate Brazilian and Latin American cultures, styles and colors within the vehicle's designs and development processes.

José Valls, CEO of Nissan Latin America, said that compact crossovers are very lucrative to Latin American customers.

"With Nissan Kicks, we will go beyond the obvious to pack a punch with a strong design statement and the performance that our customers crave," Valls said.

The project is being led by Nissan's Global Design Center in Japan. The Kicks Concept was made possible through a partnership between Nissan Design America (NDA) in San Diego and Nissan Design America - Rio (NDA-R), which is the company's local satellite design studio. The teams are currently focused on the design and development of the concept model. 

"When our team from Nissan Brazil team collaborated with our colleagues in Japan to create the Kicks concept vehicle, which was inspired by our country and culture, the result was extraordinary," said Francois Dossa, CEO of Nissan Brazil. "And now, we're excited that our manufacturing team in Resende is preparing to build it with top-notch Japanese precision." 

­Nissan continues to analyze the business strategy for launching Kicks in other regions.