Johannesburg - Earlier this week Nissan SA issued a teaser release about a new version of its Micra called the ‘Active’, and which it plans to launch locally on September 22.
Since then, the good folk at Nissan have sent us a picture, which confirmed our suspicion that the newcomer is based on the current-generation Micra, rather than the all-new one, but whereas the Indian-market Micra Active is based on the pre-facelift Micra, our Micra Active will in fact benefit from the ‘V-grilled’ facelift that never came to SA.
Our contact also confirmed that the
, which is built in France and based on alliance-partner Renault’s latest Clio, is also due in South Africa, but only in 2018.
That’s not to say that the Micra Active is a stop-gap model. The spokesperson confirmed that by offering the Active, Nissan will adopt a similar strategy to its competitors by offering a Micra “across the much contested and congested B-segment”.
This implies that the Active will live on beyond the launch of the all-new version, in the same style as VW’s Polo Vivo, tackling the lower end of the segment while the more modern French-built car takes on the new Polo and Fiesta that are also due next year.
Nissan SA has yet to confirm pricing for the Micra Active, but promises that it will offer “great value for money” and “low running costs”.
The features list is also TBC, but Nissan has told us that it’ll be sold with a three-year/90 000km service plan and six-year/150 000km warranty.