Nissan introduced the 2025 Kicks crossover at New York’s Barclay Center.
We’ve seen prices rise pretty much everywhere over the last few years, nowhere more than at automotive dealerships where average transaction prices have surged as high as $50,000. While many potential buyers have been priced out of the market, others have downsized their choices, settling for products that are cramped, underpowered and chintzy. With the 2025 Nissan Kicks, however, the automaker is determined to prove its subcompact crossover can be more than just a bargain-basement option for buyers on a budget.
The 2025 Nissan Kicks aims to demonstrate that an entry-level CUV can be more than just a consolation prize for those who don’t want to settle for a “previously owned” vehicle. While we’ll have to wait a while to test out the next-generation crossover, it appears to have some desirable features, including a 10-speaker Bose audio system, a panoramic roof and both heated seats and steering wheel.
It could be a solid choice not only for budget-minded buyers but those living in crowded urban settings — like New York, where Nissan chose to debut the 2025 Kicks.
The 2025 Nissan Kicks adopts a more cohesive and upright design.
A more compelling design
The outgoing Kicks had the look of design by committee, with front and rear elements that just didn’t seem to belong together. The new look is more coherent and refined. The two-tone roof adds an element of sophistication that was sorely missing from the original.
It adopts a more robust front end with new lighting that is better integrated into a grille that flows virtually corner to corner — an approach mirrored in the rear.
As with some other recent Nissan models, the automaker has moved away from jellybean styling. The overall shape of the 2025 Kicks is more upright, abandoning the sloping nose and extreme back glass. And that overcomes the notable lack of interior space in the original.
The cargo bay is over 40 inches wide and offers 30 cf of story – 60 with the rear seats folded down.
Improved interior
The 2025 Nissan Kicks not only gets more cargo space — 30 cubic feet with the rear seats up, 60 with them folded down — but adds some creative ways to improve functionality. Under the cargo bay load floor, for example, there are several molded in storage bins.
The passenger compartment itself has a more refined appearance, and is available with large, twin digital displays. The touchscreen is 7.0 inches on base models, with a 12.3-inch screen on the SR trim.
The Kicks SR offers both a digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen.
There are also some welcome, upscale features, such as the heated seats and steering wheel, along with an optional panoramic roof.
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New all-wheel-drive
A closer look at the nose of the 2025 Nissan Kicks’ new lighting.
While it might have seemed a must with the original, the debut of the 2025 Nissan Kicks marks the first time the little crossover has been offered with the automaker’s “intelligent” all-wheel-drive system. That should improve its appeal to those in snowier climes.
The old and creaky 1.6-liter naturally aspirated I-4 engine is being replaced by a 2.0-liter inline-four that, at 141 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque boosts the numbers by 19 hp and 26 lb-ft. The new 6-speed automatic replaces Nissan’s old CVT gearbox which was prone to unwelcome motorboating during hard acceleration.
Nissan has yet to reveal pricing for the 2025 Kicks but says it shouldn’t stray far from the outgoing model’s base $20,790 — before delivery fees.
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